The Mats kept their NCS dreams alive with a win over the last
place Dublin Gaels 77-40.
In their last two games the Mats have started to play good
fundamental basketball, and it showed in this game. The Mats began the game with a 14-0 run with
help from the Gaels going 0-9 shooting from the field.
The Mats played smart basketball with some great ball
movement, passes, and defense to start the first quarter. They racked up 12 steals in the first quarter
alone and ended the first quarter with an unheard of score of 24-3.
“It was the toughest defense we played all year,” said
Miramonte (Orinda, Calif.) coach Dave Brown. “We really
hustled and played well.”
The Mats kept up the hustle in the 2nd quarter
allowing the Gaels six more points before the end of the half. The Gaels couldn’t get anything to fall and
the Mats left them in the dust ending the second half with a score of 40-9.
At the half, the Mats leading scorers were Chris Hatfield
with 11 points and Ross Anderson with 8.
For the Gaels, James Pugh had seven of their nine points and finished
the game with 11.
The second half was the same story with the Mats scoring a
lot of points and the Gaels watching.
The Gaels did manage to put up more points once Miramonte started to sit
their starters in the middle of the 3rd.
The game ended with a confident Miramonte team and a
deflated Dublin
team as the Mats won 77-40.
This game had a lot of positives for the Matadors. Chris Hatfield had 14 points and 7
rebounds. Anthony Piganelli had a season
high 11 points and Payam Vadi had 12.
Sophomore Ross Anderson, who has had a strong showing in the last three
games, led the team with 15 points.
Spenser McDonald had 5 points, 7 assists, and 8 rebounds.
The Mats will look to carry their momentum into Acalanes on
the 16th to try to take down the number two team in DFAL and will
finish off their league play on Friday, February 19th against Las
Lomas.
