There’s something about this time of year that lowers the vibrational energy. Possibly the odd manipulation of time so that it gets dark by 5PM and always feels much later than it is or the almost freezing temperatures or arrival of wet weather. But before you know it here comes high school basketball and the holidays to amp things up again.
It has been a long time since we last crossed paths with our beloved Dons Varsity Hoops some 10 months ago in February. The Boys finished last season at 9-19 with a huge playoff win at Las Lomas and some impressive near wins against teams like Serra, league champion Ygnacio Valley and the unforgettable one-point heartbreaker at Campolindo. We then had a successful Summer going 13-3 and a solid preseason these past couple weeks.
The Dons go 15 deep this season bringing back 8 players from last year’s squad and adding 7 from last year’s dominant JV team. Returning are Seniors Brady Quinn, Joe Reidenbach, Ian Salmon and Maddox Malm plus newcomer Chase Bahou. Juniors back for year two are Gavin Dodge, Preston Hilsabeck, Cameron Hood and Ryder Malm plus the addition of Lorenzo Cangini, Arman Craig, Julian Hood, Josh Elerts and Landon Deily. The lone Sophomore is AJ Hastings.
We hosted the Season Opener last Saturday as the Holiday began to wind down against the Foothill Mustangs of Sacramento who came in with a 2-0 record. The Dons rolled out a starting lineup of Chase, Gavin, Ian, Maddox and Ryder. The ball was tipped and so it began…
The Dons came out applying full court pressure to go along with some hot shooting in the first jumping out to a 21-14 lead as Cameron had three triples and Chase had two. We widened the margin in the second, going up 41-31 as Gavin and Cam both had 11 points and Chase 8 at the break.
Both teams had big quarters in the third with Foothill going 9/13 for 80% shooting but they were unable to gain any ground on the Dons who remained up 64-56.
The Mustangs cooled off big time in the fourth going 3/16 while Cam added two more three’s to his tally plus a gorgeous and-1. Meanwhile, Gavin was busy polishing off his masterpiece and putting on a show for the large Dodge Contingent in the stands, punctuating it with a steal and thunderous dunk. The Dons would win this one going away 84-65 for a 1-0 start.
The Dons passing was markedly better in this contest as we racked up 21 assists on 32 makes. We ended up shooting 48% from the field and from deep (13/27) while Foothill shot 39% and only 26% from deep (5/19). The Dons struggled at the line shooting 35% (7/20) vs. 67% (12/18) for the Mustangs but we dominated the glass with a 43-31 advantage and only had 8 turnovers to Foothill’s 13.
Gavin led the way with 26 points on 10/16 shooting, 3 triples, 6 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 steals. Cam had 23 points on 7/10 shooting with 5 triples and 2 assists. Maddox had an off shooting night but finished with 9 points and team highs of +26 plus/minus, 7 rebounds, 7 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocks. Preston had a nice game with 8 points going 3/4 with 2 triples and 5 rebounds. Chase finished with 8 points on 3/4 shooting plus 2 triples too after a blistering start was interrupted by some foul trouble.
Next up for the Dons is the Piedmont HS Tournament which starts later this week. Dons open up against Westmoor of Daly City (0-1) at 7pm on Thursday, December 5th. We will then play either host Piedmont or Envision Academy the following night depending on the results.
Come on out to watch this exciting, fast paced, high flying, flame throwing squad this season. We appreciate all the support. GO DONS!!!!
DUNKOMETER READING: 1