Your #7 seed DONS (22-6) travelled to Redwood Friday night to face the #2 seeded Giants (20-6) in a NCS D1 Round Two matchup. The Giants feature one of the top players in Northern California in #2 Semetri (TT) Carr who will be attending Cal in the Fall.
The DONS won the tip and quickly got on the board after Maddox got an offensive rebound then buried a deep three with Carr in his face. Brother Ryder scored on an offensive rebound and putback a minute later. Ian was locking up TT and the DONS forced a couple turnovers. Gavin hit a cutting Ian for dos más and then Ian hit Gavin for a pullup jumper. 9-0 DONS halfway through the period! Then Carr started to go to work, hitting a three and getting a three point play as Ian picked up his second foul and had to go to the bench. Brady hit Ryder inside on a pick and roll. TT added a stepback jumper from behind the free throw line then stole a pass and converted the fastbreak. Gavin answered a nice drive inside then Redwood hit a three. Brady responded going coast-to-coast for two but Redwood answered for another three. Maddox went to work on TT again, this time hitting a beautiful step back in front of the Redwood bench as he stared them down and exchanged some words. 18-16 DONS after one! This was going to be a doozy.
Dons struck first in the second when Chase found Maddox for his third straight triple. Then Chase beat his man off the dribble, made a nice two foot jump stop in the lane and got the shot to roll in. Gavin found Chase underneath for an alley-oop layup and we were up 9, 25-16 with 3:30 left. TT added a jumper and a tough layup over the outstretched arm of Ryder. Then Ian closed the half with a drive and nice up and under finish at the rim. 28-20 DONS at the break. Everyone was pumped as we went back into the locker room. Maddox had 9 first half points, Ryder 5, Chase, Gavin and Ian all had 4 points apiece. TT had 14 for Redwood.
Redwood hit a corner three on their first possession of the third and quickly settled into a zone defense after playing man the whole first half. Ryder found Ian inside for the hoop and the harm, drawing another foul on TT and converting the and-1. Ryder found Maddox next for a deep, high-arching three in front of the DONS bench. Ian then blocked a TT three and raced down the floor to lay it in. Gavin found Maddox who banked in his fifth three of the night from the opposite side and DONS had their biggest lead of the night 39-27 with 3 minutes to go. TT was fouled on a three, converting 2/3 and then scored on a drive moments later. Maddox whipped a pass underneath to Chase for a reverse layup and Dons maintained an 11 point lead with 1 minute to go. 9 minutes away from a huge road upset and guaranteed at least two more games in the season, possibly a trip to State as well. This is when things really started to go South for the DONS. TT found a teammate in the corner for a wide open three and added a free throw for a 42-35 DONS lead after three.
Ominous start to the fourth as TT stole the inbounds pass and got fouled converting both free throws. On the next inbounds, the Giants stripped the ball in the backcourt and scored an easy layup. Just like that, it was 42-39 with 7:40 left, an 8-0 Redwood run in 80 seconds. The DONS stopped the bleeding when Brady converted two at the line a minute later. TT answered with a deep top of the key three then found a wide-open teammate for another corner three to give Redwood its first lead 45-44 since the first quarter. DONS called timeout to regroup.
Maddox found Gavin inside for a tough two to take the lead back for a moment. Then TT blew by his defender and through the DONS D for another two inside. The DONS travelled on their next possession and TT made us pay with a fearless drive to the rim. Brady answered with another drive coast-to-coast for a huge bucket. DONS down 49-48 with 3:30 left as Powers called another timeout.
The DONS switched to a 2-3 zone, something we haven’t seen from them the entire season, for the final few minutes. We forced Redwood into a deep three from someone not named TT but were unable to get the rebound and TT immediately made us pay with his own deep three. 52-48 Redwood. Maddox was fouled on a drive the next possession, burying both to cut the lead to 52-50 with a little over 2 minutes to go.
This is where things get interesting and a little controversial. The DONS zone held and TT was forced to take a desperation three with the shot clock winding down 3-2-1. Brady made an amazing play, blocking the three and batting the ball up ahead. He raced up the floor with TT in pursuit, no one in possession, and then TT dove taking Brady out at the knees. No foul was called, the ball caromed into the hands of another Redwood player and their Coach called time. Somehow Redwood got a reset on the shot clock when possession never changed hands and the ball didn’t hit the rim.
We forced another non-TT three but again were unable to grab the rebound as TT came slashing in for two more. 54-50 Redwood, 1:20 left. Brady picked up a tough offensive foul call then TT jumped into Ian drawing his fifth foul and two free throws with 50 seconds to go. He made both, pushing the lead to 6 as the DONS were forced to foul and TT tacked on 6 more points. So so close but we came up short, 62-52 final. DONS had 10 fourth quarter turnovers and were outscored 27-10.
The buzzer sounded and reality quickly set in. This one was within our grasp and was going to sting for a long time. Eyes welled up with tears around the gym. For Seniors Chase Bahou, Maddox Malm, Brady Quinn, Ian Salmon and Joe Reidenbach, this would be their last time stepping on a high school basketball court as a player. There was a strong showing of fan support at this game and we thank everyone who made the long trip and supported us all season long.
The DONS shot 51% (19/37) from the field, 56% (5/9) from three and 39% (9/23) from the line. Redwood shot 38% (20/52), 26% (8/31) from three and 82% (14/17) from the line. The free throws obviously played a major role in the outcome of this game – if the DONS shot 70% for example that is 7 extra points. DONS had a rebounding advantage 30-24 but struggled on the defensive glass in the fourth with only one rebound while Redwood got three big offensive boards that led directly to 5 massive points in the final minutes. The DONS handled the ball fairly well until the fourth, finishing with 21 turnovers to Redwood’s 7. More importantly, points off turnovers were 19-3 Giants.
BALL MOVEMENT WATCH
Assists on FGs Made – 13 assists on 19field goals (68%) – 65% considered good, >75% is ideal
Assist to Turnovers – 21 turnovers (0.62) – 1.00 considered good, >1.50 is ideal
Maddox showed out in this one going wire-to-wire with TT face guarding him most of the night and scoring a team high 18 points on 5/8 from deep plus 3 rebounds and 2 assists. Ian played phenomenal defense on TT, battling a tough whistle and making things difficult while putting up 9 points on 4/6 shooting with 2 steals. Brady had 8 points and the huge block. Gavin had 6 points, 6 assists and 6 rebounds. Chase added 6 points on 3/4. Ryder had 5 points, 10 rebounds, 2 assists and was the only Don with a positive +/- at +1. TT Carr finished with 41 points, 27 in the second half including 8 free throws in the final 50 seconds.
The DONS will finish 22-7 (.758 winning percentage) including an 11-1 rip through the DAL for their first League Championship since 2007 avenging 8 of the 9 league losses from last season. The DONS earned a #7 seed in the NCS D1 division as a D3 school and won their opening round game over Archie Williams. The DONS re-energized the entire COMMUNITY and put Acalanes Basketball back on the map with a banner to boot.
It was Chaucer that said “all good things must come to an end”. Well – to this 2024-2025 DAL CHAMPION DONS TEAM – you weren’t just a good thing, you were great! The ACALANES DONS – from unknown to known and irrelevant to relevant. The future is bright.
DONS DUNK-O-METER: 26 (NC) Click to see some of the BEST DUNKS of the YEAR!
Follow on Twitter @ACABoysBBall for in game updates, stats, highlights and more!
Find us on MaxPreps for rankings, roster, schedule and more! :
Game Photos Courtesy: Nicole Malm
