The Dons faced off against the Windsor Jaguars in the opening round of the 33rd Annual Piedmont Tournament Thursday evening. The Jags jumped out to an early 9-2 lead as they were gunning from deep and getting multiple shot attempts per possession compared to one look for the Dons. Brady Quinn had two huge offensive rebound putbacks and Gavin Dodge hit two three’s to keep us close and despite being outplayed we were only down 13-14 at the quarter end.
Brady splashed a three early in the second to tie us at 16 all before Windsor ripped off a quick 8-0 run to regain control. But Brady, who had a huge 13 point first half, answered again with another from deep. Ian Salmon added a putback and Maddox Malm a nice tip-in off a missed free throw to tie us at 26 all going into the locker room at half.
The Dons quickly took control in the second half with a 6-0 run in the first minute of play. After a quick stop, Brady found Ian in the corner for a slashing drive to the hoop. Then the 2-2-1 press started paying dividends with a backcourt violation followed by another Ian drive and score. Gavin jumped the passing lane on the next play for the pick-six streaking down the court for a nice lefty finish. The bench and fans erupted as the Jags needed a TO! Windsor responded taking the lead back 35-36 before a Brady drive put us back up. Maddox added a triple from the corner to go up 40-36 and a nice block on a Windsor three at the end of the period.
Jordan Brown extended the lead to 7 with a three-ball but the Jags clawed their way back to 45-43. A Liam Krackeler steal off an inbounds play turned into a gigantic Joe Reidenbach three on the other end. Brady hit Ian for a three-quarter court pass ahead for a huge deuce as the score was 50-46. The Jags hung tough with two free throws before Jordan found Ian in the corner for a majestic, high arcing three that felt like a knockout punch but the Dons gambled on a sideline inbounds pass resulting in a turnover and the Jags converted it into two more free throws. This set up a one possession game with just 40 seconds left on the clock. It was his night and Brady took control dribbling the air out of the ball then going left, hanging in the air and knocking down the dagger jumper that buried the Jags for good.
This game felt like three years in the making for Junior Brady and a superb performance going wire to wire with 19 points on 8/15 shooting, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists. Gavin had 11 with 3 three’s and 5 boards. Ian added 9 while Joe and Maddox chipped in with 5 each. Joe battled on the boards all night with a team high 6.
The Dons (2-0) move on to face host Piedmont in the Semifinals tonight at 8:30pm (sorry East Coast fans) while St. Ignatius faces Redwood in the other semi. GO DONS!!!
For game stats, highlights and more: https://bit.ly/3RpoF1R
Photos courtesy: Cole Gwaltney, Drew Malm
