It was another slow start for the Dons, reminiscent of the 16-1 hole we dug ourselves against St. Ignatius but this one went a little deeper as it was 26-6 Mustangs after one. They came out and punched us in the mouth with intense man to man defense and not allowing any second chances. They were on fire going 11/15 from the field including 3/4 on three’s in the period and some easy looks with 16 points in the paint. The Dons were 3/13 with 6 turnovers.
Dons stabilized after going down 28-6 and won the second quarter but still were down 37-21 at the break. The game was an absolute track meet and the Mustangs seemed to have a much bigger supply of smaller and faster players. The Dons looked tired but were hanging tough.
The Dons scrapped and clawed back in the third, barely winning the period and were down 47-32 headed into the final stanza. Same story there as we squeezed out another small victory, winning three of four quarters overall but the 20+ point spot to start was simply too much to overcome against this well-oiled Mustangs squad.
The Mustangs shot 50% from the floor, going 20/34 on 2FG (56%) and 6/18 from deep (33%) while the Dons were 39% overall, 15/36 on 2FG (42%) and 5/15 (33%) from deep. Despite being undersized, Monte Vista kept it close on the boards as the Dons only had a 28-22 advantage. We lost the turnover battle 17-11 but even more costly were points off turnovers where the Mustangs got us 20-5. Interestingly, very few shooting fouls in this game with both teams going 4/5 from the line.
Gavin Dodge has been a rock for this team all season and he almost went wire-to-wire again with a team high 17 points on 6/19 shooting, 3/6 shooting from three plus 5 rebounds and 2 assists. Despite foul trouble, Liam Krackeler had a nice night with 10 points on 5/7 shooting. Jordan Brown also had some solid minutes and drives to the rack, finishing with 8 on 4/6 shooting along with a team high 3 assists. Preston Hilsabeck and Ryder Malm both finished with team high +/- ratings of -2.
The Dons face Dougherty Valley this evening at 5:30pm in the Third Place game. Other matchups include: 7th Place Game // Alhambra @ DeAnza tipping at 2:30pm, 5th Place Game // St. Joseph Notre Dame @ Piedmont 4pm, and Championship // Woodcreek @ Monte Vista at 7pm.
All games will be livestreamed at: https://youtube.com/@acalaneshubergym1200?si=ysC2OYG958B17ACv
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Photos Below Courtesy: The Lovely Nicole Malm
