Saturday, December 30, 2023
Record: 11-2
The JV Boys played an epic game to win the JV Dougherty Valley Tournament. The Dons defeated the Amador Valley Dons by a score of 63 to 61. The JV team improved to 11 and 2 for the season!
Not only did this game have two teams with the same mascot name, Dons, but it also pitted two talented teams that were eager to win the championship trophy. The game started with Amador Valley jumping to an early lead. Acalanes squandered several easy put backs while Amador Valley converted their shots to led 12-6. Arman Craig, the team’s power forward, took control of the game. Arman grabbed an offensive rebound, was fouled, and converted his two free throws. Arman scored again, and Acalanes, wearing blue, found themselves just down by two. A Gavin Beers foul shot cut the lead down to one. After the first period, it was Amador Valley 17, Acalanes 16.
The Dons started to flex their muscles in the second quarter. Josh Elerts had a nice put back, but the play of the quarter and maybe the game was a Gavin Beers layup. Gavin shot an amazing layup underneath the basket and was fouled. After converting the foul shot, the blue team now led 21-20. The quarter continued back and forth, and the half ended with Acalanes up by one point.
The third quarter started out tense. Both teams’ supporters did not know which team would take command of the game. Illias Kaplanes-Jones took a fierce charge that ignited the visiting team crowd’s emotions. This led to a mini run by Acalanes. A Lorenzo three pointer, an Illias layup, and a Chase Bahou three pointer powered the run. The blue Dons now led the Dons wearing white 47-40. But Amador Valley would not go away. The hometown team, Amador Valley, battled back to take a 48-47 lead. The two powerhouses continued to battle and exchange baskets. Acalanes led 51-50 after three quarters.
The final quarter was an emotional roller coaster for both teams and their fans. These emotions erupted at the start of the quarter when Amador Valley’s coach was called for a technical foul. Unfortunately, Acalanes could not capitalize, and the game remained close. Acalanes struggled to stop Amador Valley drives to the baskets. Amador Valley utilized their interior scoring to build a three-point lead. Yet, Gavin Beers and Lorenzo Cangini would not let their team lose. Gavin, playing huge defense throughout the tournament, had a pivotal steal and hit a three pointer. Lorenzo scored five points in a row, which included a layup and a converted foul shot. As the game came down to the final seconds, Acalanes needed their defense to secure the win. The blue team forced an errant shot, and it was only fitting the defense guru for the game, Gavin, secured the ball. Gavin was immediately fouled with two seconds remaining. Once Gavin missed his first free throw, he purposely missed his second so Amador Valley had no chance to tie or win the game. The final score was Acalanes 63 and Amador Valley 61.
Besides hosting the championship trophy, the Acalanes Dons had several players recognized for their tournament performance. Lorenzo Cangini, who scored 18 points in the championship game, and Chase Bahou, who scored 13 points in the same game, were selected All Tournament Players. Gavin Beers, who exemplified the Dons never quite attitude, was selected by his peers as the Tournament Most Valuable Player.
The JV Basketball team will take a well deserve break until 2024. Their season will resume on January 2, 2024 at home. Acalanes plays another powerhouse basketball team, Serra, to start the year. Tipoff is at 5:30pm.
Congratulations again to the JV Dons and Coach Thomas for winning the JV Dougherty Valley Tournament! Fear the Blue.
