The Miramonte Matadors (9-9) hosted the Acalanes Dons (9-8)
Monday night to battle it out for second place in the DFAL. Both teams came into the match up with three
and one records, and although Mats center Chris Hatfield put up 26 points, the
Dons managed to hold on and win a close one 60-54.
The Dons started out fast with a 14-2 scoring run in the
first six minutes of the game. The Mats
came out slow and played some sloppy defense, turning the ball over five times
before the end of the quarter. Contributing
to their early mishaps, the Mats had trouble moving the ball around and getting
open shots with good defensive play from the Dons. Everything was dropping for the Dons and they
played mistake-free ball in the first quarter to give them an early 16-4 lead
with help from Zach Bloom and Corey Collins.
The Mats battled back in the second quarter in what seemed
to be a role reversal. Everything
started to fall for the Mats and nothing was going in for the Dons. With three minutes left in the second quarter
the Mats went on an 8-0 scoring drive with Hatfield leading the way to bring
them back within reach and to end the half with a score of 24-20 in favor of
the Dons.
The game stayed neck and neck in the second half as both
teams traded points. The Mats found
themselves with their first lead of the night in the middle of the third
quarter when Acalanes center Carlo Valsecchi was given his fourth foul and had
to go to the bench. The Dons managed
without him and got the lead back to end the third quarter 40-39.
The fourth quarter started with Acalanes trying to end the
game right away as they went on a 5-0 scoring drive to put the game at
45-39. With a big three from Davis Louie
and two lay-ups made by Chris Hatfield, the Mats brought the game into reach
and seemed to be in a manageable situation losing 47-49 with four minutes
left. Corey Collins and the Dons got hot
from here on out as the Mats only managed to score four points up to the one
minute mark. With one minute left the
score was 56-51 Dons and the Mats started to play the foul game only to watch
Acalanes make their free throws and win the game 60-54.
The Mats players struggled shooting the ball, except for Hatfield
who put up 26, and Spenser McDonald who had 13 points and 10 rebounds. On the other hand, the Dons had contributions
from Jay Fowler with 9 points and 8 assists, Michael Jackson with 11 points
(5-5 shooting) and 10 rebounds, and Corey Collins with 14 points.
The Mats dropped to third in the league with a record of
(3-2), while the Dons stay in second place with a record of (4-1) behind
Campolindo (5-0).
