The Dons squared off against the St. Ignatius Wildcats from SF in the Third Place Game at the 33rd Annual Piedmont Tournament on a rainy Saturday afternoon. After a free throw for a 1-0 lead on the first possession the Dons did not score again until the end of the quarter when Jordan Brown found Preston Hilsabeck on a nice cut to the hoop. It was 16-3 after one with 5 turnovers, 1/14 shooting from the field and 1/4 from the line.
The lead ballooned to 17 in the second before the Dons started to settle into the game on offense. Cameron Hood hit a three and a nice floater in the lane and Brady Quinn dropped a dime to Maddox Malm and had a pretty coast to coast left hand finish. Maddox and Jordan both added triples and it was 36-22 going into the break.
Could the Dons find magic in that locker room three days in a row? Not exactly as the Wildcats increased their advantage with two 3 point plays to start the period. Then a scary moment as Brady was hit from behind on a rebound and crashed to the floor sustaining a concussion. Some unfortunate circumstances early in the season for this Dons squad with two concussions now as well as a significant knee injury, all to key players.
But this Dons team would not give up. Down 44-25 following the injury, a lineup featuring three sophomores Gavin Dodge, Preston and Cameron plus Maddox and Liam Krackeler ripped off an 8-0 run. It started with Gavin finding Maddox for a slashing layup, then a nifty drive through the lane from Liam, followed by a Gavin putback and Liam finding Gavin on the baseline as the Dons almost had it back under single digits. A Wildcat corner three stopped the bleeding and it was 47-33 end of the third.
A nice lefty tip in from Maddox and a fast break layup on another Liam to Gavin connection got us back to within 10. Three’s from Preston and Gavin cut the lead to 8 at one point but the sand was running out in the hourglass. Cam had a marvelous game filling in for Brady, punctuated with a super smooth midrange pullup to finish off the scoring for the Dons. The Wildcats went 6/6 from the line late adding to the lead for the 64-49 final.
Ultimately, the 16-1 poor start was too much to overcome as the Dons played them even from there the rest of the way. 6/14 from the line did not help matters but the bottom line is the Wildcats got easier looks all afternoon, shooting 64% on two point field goals and 30% on three’s, many of which felt like wide open looks. The Dons showed true grit and character battling back, something to build on going into the Huber Tournament which starts Thursday, December 7th with a game against De Anza, tipoff at 7pm.
Gavin and Maddox led the way with 10 points each and Cameron had 7. Maddox had team highs of 8 rebounds, 3 steals and 1 block and Liam and Brady each had 3 assists. There were three players with a positive +/- rating – Preston +11, Maddox +5 and Cameron +1.
For stats, highlights and more: https://bit.ly/47ZVNTh
