The Dons faced the host Highlanders in the Semifinals of the 33rd Annual Piedmont Tournament in the primetime 8:30pm slot. They say basketball is a game of runs and this one followed that script the whole way. The Dons started slowly going down 9-2 for the second night in a row in a sloppy first quarter that saw many substitutions and 5 turnovers. But the Dons hung tough trailing by 5 headed into the second.
Buckets from Ian Salmon, Maddox Malm, and Liam Krackeler put the Dons in the lead for the first time at 17-16. The Highlanders scored the next 9 points as Coach Powers called timeout to try to steady the ship. Jordan Brown scored the next two times with assists from Brady Quinn and Gavin Dodge. Piedmont held a 27-21 lead at half.
Not sure what is going on in that locker room at half but it has worked two times in a row as the Dons came storming out in the third on an epic 20-3 run that shows the potential of this squad. It started with a Gavin corner three, followed by a Brady coast to coast and-1 to tie it at 27. We took the lead on a Brady steal and finish then the onslaught continued with Ian finding Joe Reidenbach underneath, Maddox stroking a corner three, Brady picking up another steal and finding Ian, Gavin with a steal and putback, and lastly Ian with a corner three to put us up 41-30 just five minutes in. WOW-WEE. After a timeout, #3 on Piedmont took matters in his own hands scoring the next 6 points and assisting a corner three as time expired in the third to close the gap to 41-39 for the Highlanders.
A careless inbounds play to start the quarter handed Piedmont an easy layup and we were all tied at 41 all just like that. The Dons answered as Liam found Maddox underneath on a beautiful pass for an easy two and then Maddox stole the ball and slung it up the court to Ian who made a beautiful catch and drive to the hoop. After a Piedmont and-1, Maddox found Gavin in the corner for a clutch triple that put the Dons up 50-46 with 2:44 left. Piedmont would not be denied, converting two free throws on an offensive rebound and scoring on a circus shot baseline drive to tie it at 50 with just under a minute left. But the Dons struggled to get good looks on offense, only mustering four highly contested threes in the last minutes. A Gavin deep three with ten seconds left looked good the whole way but hit the front rim and the Dons were forced to foul but Piedmont hit both for the 54-50 final.
Brady and Gavin led the way with 12 points each with Ian adding 11 and Maddox 7. The Dons shared the ball well with six different players with two assists while Brady had a team high of 7 boards and Maddox a +/- rating of +7. Additional team stats shown below.
The Dons (2-1) will face St. Ignatius (2-1) today who lost to Redwood in the other semifinal. Game tips at 4:30pm at Binks Gymnasium at Piedmont High School.
For highlights, stats and more on MaxPreps: https://bit.ly/3GoHzQc
