“Even great successes come to a natural end” — Isaac Asimov. Friday night in Oakland, the Dons walked into one of the nicest gyms in the Bay Area — the home of the Bishop O’Dowd Dragons, the #1 seed in Division 1. College-level lighting. Polished floors. Size everywhere. This was such a big game that three members of the Mt.…

Tuesday was the rainiest day of the year. Not “grab a hoodie” rain. Not “light drizzle” rain. Biblical rain. The kind of atmospheric river event where the wind blows sideways and the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge feels like a whitewater rafting expedition. The #9 seed Acalanes made the long, wet trek to San Anselmo to face #8 seed Archie Williams in…

Three weeks ago, Clayton Valley came into Lafayette and delivered a 58–13 drubbing so brutal that it barely qualified as a basketball game. It was the kind of loss that makes you question the sport, the season, and whether the rim has been slightly raised when nobody was looking. So no — nobody was exactly thrilled about seeing the Ugly…

For years, the story of this matchup was written in the same ink: Campolindo winning, and Acalanes searching for answers. But after a decade of dominance by the Cougars, the tide in Lamorinda has officially turned. The Dons’ drought against the Cougars lasted 2,957 days—from December 2017 until the breakthrough victory this past January. So, the question entering Thursday night’s…

Monday night marked the end of an era: Senior Night at Acalanes. It was the final time this senior class would hear their names announced under the bright lights of their home court for the regular season, and the final time their parents would try—and fail—to play it cool while taking enough photos to crash a cloud server. The five…

The Dons traveled to Concord, CA on Friday night, a city that is home to the 24th-ranked boys basketball team in the entire state of California. Fortunately for Acalanes, that team is De La Salle. The Dons were actually facing Concord High, who are ranked 1,087th in the state. For those wondering, there are 1,482 high school boys teams in…

Miramonte arrived in Lafayette on Wednesday night with the exact same record as Acalanes: 13–10. On paper, this was a dead-even Lamorinda showdown. But on other paper — the kind that spits out statewide rankings — Acalanes entered ranked 151st in California, well ahead of Miramonte at 355th. And early on, the game looked like it might reflect that difference.…