Campolindo Cougars 46, Acalanes Dons 28
After a very difficult first quarter, where the Cougars led 10-2, the Dons improved their performance by the fourth quarter where they outscored Campolindo 12-9. The Cougars had two significant scorers that together made 36 of their 46 points. Acalanes lead scorers were Nikki McCarthy and Rebecca Christie with 8 each.
Home or Away-Let’s Beat Campo today!
Boys Basketball at Campolindo 4pm Frosh Game 5:30pm JV Game 7pm Varsity Game
Girls Basketball at Home 5:30pm JV Game 7pm Varsity Game
The Dons came out strong in the first half of the game with an assist by Nick Geannacopulos to Kade Finegold with the first goal at 1-0. Continuing with a quick offense Charlie Peacock all alone in the field shot a strong goal. 2-0 Dons.
Keeping up the offense tempo the Dons drew a PK and Nick Geannacopulos scored one for the team. A strong ending to the first half with the Dons at 3-0.
Starting the second half not as strong as the first the Dons defense had a bit of a challenge and lost one goal to Benicia 3-1. After a quick talk the team rallied an came back strong with another amazing goal by Kade Finegold assisted by a beautiful kick down the field by Daniel Adri. 4-1
Owen Hansons turn with a header goal assisted by Charlie Peacock. Dons running strong with a 5-1 lead. In the last minutes of the game Jack Muren decided he wanted to be on the board and ran a strong sprint down the side of the field and scored one for the team. Dons win 6-1
Acalanes 64, Northgate 36
The Lady Dons improved to 2-0 in league with a convincing 28 point victory over the visiting Broncos. After a close first quarter the girls broke it open in the 2nd quarter to go into the locker room up 17. The lead stretched well into the 30s in the 2nd half before the foot was taken off the gas. Lauren Frechman led the scoring with 18 points. Grace Gebhardt added 15, Kaylee Pond scored 11 and Lauren Kobashigawa tallied 10. The girls are in action next at home Friday night against Campo.
The Dons faced the other cross-town rival, Miramonte, on a cold Monday evening. After their disappointing loss to Campo on Friday, the Dons wanted to come out strong against this tough opponent.
In an odd twist, the Mats decided not to start their best players at the onset. The Dons had a few solid chances to score but came up short. About 20 minutes into the first half, the Mats’ true starting lineup was on the field. Senior midfielder Natasha Malinovsky made a beautiful pass to Freshman forward Tatum Zuber on the left side and Tatum converted to give the Dons the lead 1-0.
The Mats answered back just before the half to make the score 1-1.
During the second half, the play was equal, but not a lot of shots on goal for either team.
Tatum Zuber came extremely close to scoring from a pass from Aliye Wingate on a corner kick. The goalkeeper made a great save, but this gave the Dons another opportunity for a corner with about 4 minutes remaining. Zuber was able to “Bend it Like Beckham” and score unassisted to give the Dons the lead 2-1.
With seconds remaining in the game, Senior Captain midfielder Ivy Souza pressured the defense in their backfield to gain control of the ball and was able to dish it to Freshman forward Addie Bailey and she put the nail in the coffin just before the whistle to make it 3-1.
The Dons’ defense was brilliant all night, anchored by Juniors Sami Hansen and Aliye Wingate. Other notable standouts were Freshmen Jacque Peacock and Chloe Quintella, who both played remarkable defense on the outside. Senior midfielders Gabby Ortale and Natasha Malinovsky were stellar in the midfield, as well.
Next up for the Dons will be at Benicia High School on Wednesday night at 7pm.
Go DONS!
The Boys Varsity Soccer game vs Campolindo on Friday night finished in a tie 1-1.
Campolindo scored on a Penalty kick in the first half.
Acalanes came out strong in the Second half with Charlie Peacock assisting to Aiden Nelson with the goal.
The Boys Varsity Soccer had a great start to the New Year shutting out Mt. Diablo 2-0. It started out in the first ten minutes of the game with Charlie Peacock with a corner kick to Owen Hanson with a header goal! 1-0
Midway in the second half of the game Nick Geannacopulos stole the ball and ran it alone to the other end of the field with a beautiful Goal!!! 2-0 Dons win.
Miramonte 46, Acalanes 20
The Dons had a difficult game against the Matadors, falling behind in the second and third quarters after enjoying a 7-6 lead in the first quarter. In the fourth quarter they kept pace with Miramonte, with each team scoring 7 points. Nikki McCarthy was the lead scorer with 8 points, followed by Rebecca Christie with and Sophia Alvarado with 4 each. The Miramonte team featured a roster of 14 girls, including their tall center #12 who scored 18 points. The Matadors used a very effective press which unfortunately led to several turnovers for the Dons.
Acalanes 46, Benicia 45
The JV Lady Dons won a nail-biter after the teams were within 2 to 3 points of each other most of the game, sealed by a clutch free throw by Emily Lau with less than a minute remaining. This was the last pre-season, non-league game for this primarily freshman team, which has markedly improved from their first practice in November. Nikki McCarthy was the high scorer with 14 points, including 4 free throws. Molly Keliher-Burke and Lucy Gellman had great games with 8 points each. Teamwork was a key factor in this win, including many assists by Emily Lau.
Bennett Dodge turned on the heat in the freezing cold Santa Rosa High School gym with scoring the first two baskets of the game. The Dons defrosted the Panther’s court quickly in the first quarter with the score 20 to 4.
The Dons kept lead the entire game with layups, hook shots, three pointers, free throw shots and high fives in between. Jack Bayless again was the high scorer for the Dons with 16, Bennett Dodge (10), Miller Smith (8) Landon Best-Santos (7), Colin Norstad (6), Nathan Kim (5) and Nathan Bennett (4 ). Also adding to the Dons score was Coco Gannon, Zubin Acuna and Justin Zegarowski.
The Panther’s had a hard time getting to their basket. The Don’s defense was quick and strong. Bennett Dodge and Jack Bayless were there to block, deny and rebound. Kaleo Feinberg, Evren Rose and Dominic Sarica added to the Don defense.
The Frosh team chemistry keeps this Don team winning with strong skills, players who are willing to contribute to the team’s good balance and supporting one another at practices and games. They know that their greatness depends on each other. Working effectively as a team creates momentum, builds up team spirit and wins games, just like they did tonight…Dons 66 and Panthers 33.
Saturday, December 21 the Dons are home against Sir Francis Drake High School at 3pm. JV and Varsity games follow the Frosh Game.
Come on out and cheer on YOUR DONS!