The Frosh Boys fought their way to a 51-47 overtime win in an epic battle in the opening round of the Dougherty Valley Holiday Tournament, avenging an early season 68-30 loss to Foothill during Thanksgiving week. Both teams were short handed – the Dons missing a third of their roster with Holiday absences and Foothill battling a Covid outbreak sidelining nearly half their team.
Foothill broke out to an early 7-3 lead after a couple back to back fastbreak layups. Acalanes responded as Jake Hawkins fed Sam Bishop leading to two free throws, followed by a Drew McKenzie block and a Cole Gwaltney three to end the quarter down just 9-8.
Both teams started exchanging the lead in the second quarter with the Dons going up 15-13 after two converted free throws from Alex Saegert and a Bishop three point tapenade. Foothill began to pull away behind Sahas (#4) who had 17 first half points and several assists. However, Bishop drained a gorgeous thirty plus footer at the buzzer and the Dons went into the locker room at half down 25-18.
Bishop switched onto Sahas out of the break and totally locked him down as he would only score four points the rest of the way. The Dons began slowly clawing back at the lead and a Brody Darin three cut the lead to four 27-23. You may be wondering when Avyn Morales’ name may appear and WHOOMP THERE HE IS! with a block and a 3 to close the quarter with the Dons trailing 30-26.
Fasten your seatbelts folks, things are about to get interesting…the Dons were still down 4 after a Saegert bucket on a fearless drive to the hole followed by a Bishop to Morales post bucket on the next possession. Bishop hit another three (one of four in the game) cutting the lead to three and McKenzie drew an epic charge. Maddox Malm splashed a nothing but net corner three cutting the lead to 2. But Sahas immediately answered the call as Foothill kept scoring too.
The Dons continued their charge finding themselves down 42-40 after more buckets by Bishop and Morales with just over a minute to play. After Foothill converted one of two at the line and with time slipping away, Morales evened the score at 43 all with a legendary three as the players and Don fanbase went wild on the sidelines. The Dons played stellar defense on the last possession and Foothill wasn’t even able to get a shot off as regulation expired.
The Dons would not be denied in OT taking the lead early on a Bishop three that put them up 46-45. Malm grabbed a big offensive rebound finding Morales for the and-1 opportunity but Dons were still only up one after the missed free throw. The Dons’ defensive pressure caused a big turnover on the other end with under a minute left as Malm corralled a loose ball near half court and found a streaking Morales for a layup putting Acalanes up 50-47. With the clamps fully on, Foothill forced a deep three and fouled Bishop who put the nail in the coffin with one more free throw for the 51-47 final.
Take us home Sam! Bishop, in his finest game of the year, finished with a game high 24 points and outstanding second half defense. Morales added most of his 15 points in the second half with clutch plays down the stretch. Gwaltney and Darin were excellent running the point and it was a total team effort. For Foothill, Sahas (#4) finished with 21 and Jack (#11) added 10. The Dons outscored Foothill by 15 from three (9-4) and our free throw shooting was much improved too as we finished 11-16 (69%) vs. 7-8 (87%) for Foothill.
The Dons are now back at .500 (3-3) on the season and will face the winner of the San Leandro/Northgate game tomorrow at 12:00pm at Dougherty Valley Gym in San Ramon.
