The Dons Community is still feeling the aftershocks of what went down Wednesday night in the league opener at Ygnacio Valley. The Dons came in at 9-4 to face the Wolves at 9-5 who have a much stronger schedule per MaxPreps. YV had a very successful 23-24 season getting the #1 seed in the league tournament and going all the way to the third round of the state championships.
This was the DAL league opener for both teams and the Dons were looking to avenge their close loss at home to the Wolves last season, a one-point game in the fourth that got away. The Dons welcomed back Gavin who returned after missing the last three games and boy was it good to have him back. The game started fast and furious with Gavin hitting a three to get us on the board. Maddox found Ryder inside for a pretty jump hook and then found Joe in the corner for a three courtesy a Curryesque behind the back pass to put us up 11-9. YV closed strong with an 8-0 run to take a 17-11 lead into the second.
Brady started a 7-0 run swishing a three. Ryder found Chase in the post for two and then Chase picked up a steal and leaped in the air, slinging a two-handed catapult style pass up the court to Brady for the easy two. 18-17 Dons, YV needed a timeout. Basketball is a game of runs as they say and YV responded with a 7-0 run of their own taking a 24-18 lead with 3 minutes to go. Then Brady went to work keeping the Dons in this one hitting two more three’s and a nice drive as he finished with 13 points in the quarter! Dons up 28-27 at the break. You could feel this one was going down to the wire.
Gavin started us off again nailing a three to open scoring then converted inside on another dime from Maddox. YV kept responding scoring on two fast breaks, one off a turnover and one off a rebound, plus a nice drive for a layup. After a Chase corner three and a Brady coast-to-coast lefty finish we were up 39-35 and looking good going into the fourth!
The Dons committed back to back turnovers which both turned into easy fast break scores for YV and the score was all tied at 39 with just under 7 minutes left. FASTEN YOUR SEATBELTS, it’s going to get bumpy from here. After a Dons timeout, play resumed with Gavin finding Big Game Joe in the corner for three. YV answered with a nice floater. On the next play, the Dons whipped passes up the floor against the YV press, Gavin to Maddox to Chase to Ian to Joe again in the opposite corner….GOOD! He’s heating up! Beautiful ball movement with all five players getting touches. Both teams continued to take punches and respond with YV hitting two three’s to tie the score at 47 with 4 minutes to go.
The Dons who have had so many close, almost big wins over the last 1.5 seasons only to come up short, were not going to go quietly into the Walnut Creek night. Ian streaked up the floor and found a wide-open Joe in the corner who stroked his third three! HE’S ON FIRE!!!! The fans erupted as the Dons were up 50-47! After exchanging more blows, YV got a nice roll off an offensive rebound putback and seized control of the game up 55-52 with under a minute to play. Dons called timeout and were able to pinball pass it around to find Brady who drilled his fourth three of the game to tie it up at 55! CLUTCH. Chaos ensued as both teams would trade turnovers and a YV shot rolled around the rim, bouncing out as Maddox corralled the board. Coach Powers would call time with 2 seconds left to go.
Ian inbounded the ball as Gavin started underneath the hoop, pretended to set a quick screen for Ryder, then flashed towards Ian receiving the ball 30+ feet from the hoop near the Dons bench. Gavin turned to his right, took one dribble, jumped high into the air with a YV defender in pursuit, and released a high arching shot that deposited into the back of the net and the Dons History books forever. The players and coaches stormed the court… jumping, running, skipping and then mobbing Gavin. Somewhere Jimmy Chitwood was smiling. DONS WIN, DONS WIN.
Experience the moment here: https://youtu.be/4UXcgYg5JFk
The Dons shot 41% from the field, a smoking hot 52% (13/25) from deep and only 20% (1/5) from the line. The Wolves shot 36% from the field, 18% (3/17) from three, and 73% (8/11) from the stripe. The Dons outrebounded YV 38-34 but lost the turnover battle with 21 to their 13. However, we made up for the turnovers with 20 assists (YV had 6) and 8 blocks.
Brady finished with 18 points on 7/8 shooting and 4/4 on three’s. Gavin had 13 points and was 3/5 from deep, adding 3 assists and a team high +9. Joe had 13 points on 4/5, all from three. Ryder controlled the paint with 4 points, 11 rebounds, 6 blocks plus 3 assists and was +7. Ian had 6 assists, 4 rebounds, and 3 steals while Maddox contributed 5 assists, 5 rebounds and 2 steals. Chase had 5 points, 2 assists and 2 steals. Total team effort in this one.
HUDL Game Highlights: http://www.hudl.com/v/2RQEMM
Up next for the Dons another trip down Ygnacio Valley, this time to Berean Christian tonight at 7PM. Berean comes into this one with a 7-6 record, losing their league opener to Concord 55-47. Next week the Dons will be back home, facing Las Lomas on Monday 1/13 and looking for revenge against Northgate on Wednesday 1/15. GO DONS!!!
DONS DUNKOMETER: 12 (No Change) – BUT RUMBLINGS OF SEISMIC ACTIVITY TONIGHT!
Remember to follow @ACABoysBBall on X/Twitter for in game updates, stats, highlights and more: https://x.com/ACABoysBball
You can also find us on MaxPreps: https://www.maxpreps.com/ca/lafayette/acalanes-dons/basketball/
Photos Courtesy Nicole Malm: https://www.instagram.com/cappedbycoco
