The frosh Dons tipped off against the Las Lomas Knights on Saturday in their first regular season High School basketball game. Coach Richards started with a 4-guard lineup of Cash Woehrle, Pengyu Chen, Nick Zagorov, and Brandon Blatteis, along with Zubin Krishnan as the lone big. Las Lomas had a height advantage at a few spots, but the Dons had a clear edge in quickness, which paid immediate dividends in the full court press. Acalanes forced three consecutive turnovers, but was only able to convert one of those into points with a Chen layup. Zagorov found Chen on a nice backdoor for a second layup for a 4-0 lead halfway through the first period. After a timeout, Las Lomas settled down and found success against the press, allowing them to get to the rim for some easy baskets and storm back to take a 16-10 lead in the second quarter.

Acalanes kept their composure and found its rhythm on offense, moving the ball quickly from side to side and generating open looks for three. Blatteis and Zagorov knocked down back-to-back three pointers, which drew the Knights defense away from the basket and opened up driving lanes. Zagorov took advantage for an and-1, and Krishnan added a free throw near the end of the half for a Dons lead of 31-24. 

To start the second half, Las Lomas rotated in several players off their bench, while the Dons brought back their starting five and the full-court press. Aca again forced multiple turnovers to start the quarter, but this time they couldn’t miss. Woehrle, Krishnan, and Blatteis hit three straight 3-pointers. The Knights then pushed even further out on defense, only to get beaten for layups on back cut passes from Zagorov to Blatteis and Woehrle. Zagorov finished with a team-high 8 assists. The Dons’ lead grew to 44-26 before they gave up a few baskets in the paint to end the quarter up 48-34.

The fourth quarter played out much the same, with Acalanes pressing most of the quarter and making it hard on Las Lomas to get into their offense. When the Knights did beat the first line of the press, the Dons struggled to retreat and help quickly enough to stop them from getting to the rim for easy looks. In fact, for the game Las Lomas scored 19 of their 22 baskets in the paint. On offense, Aca stayed with what was working – open 3’s and back cuts for layups. As new players rotated in, the Dons didn’t skip a beat, with each new player slotting into a spot on the press or in the offense and contributing. Grady Branagh, Cade Korpita, Frankie Rocca, and Brayden Sarbiewski racked up 10 rebounds (7 offensive), along with multiple blocks, steals, and deflections. Christian Dunphy capped the scoring with a long three, as the Dons closed out the Knights 66-51.

Next game: James Logan – Thursday 12/5 @ 7pm – Alameda HS