Dons basketball feels “confident” in next game against Hornets

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Here, the Dons faced the University City Centurions on February 6th

Lorenzo Aguilar, Staff Writer

The Dons basketball team currently stands in League with a record of 7-3 after facing multiple teams recently. One of the teams, the Mission Bay Buccaneers, soundly found a way to beat the Dons.

“After the last loss, we went over our problems and now feel very confident about facing teams in the future,” said junior Jack Vecchio.

With junior Austin Beech out with a sprained ankle, the Dons trailed the Buccaneers 10-21 after the first half. By the end of the third, the Dons only scored three points, as the Buccaneers added to their lead, 28-13. The Dons came up close to winning though by hitting shots and making their free throws, but it was not enough as their lackluster playing ended in a final score of 43-39. Mission Bay went up to 8-2 in League and stand in second place alone right now; as for Cathedral, we are sitting in third place, with a record of 7-3.

The Dons were triumphant, however, in their win against the Scripps Ranch Falcons last Tuesday at home, winning by 18 points. The Dons started out by leading the game with a score of 18-11, and the team picked up their tempo in the third quarter by extending their lead 28-15. The fourth quarter was even more successful as the team scored 18 points and shut the Falcons out with a final score of 46-28.

Junior Cameron Moore scored 18 points alongside his teammate junior Reid Johnson who came one point shy of a double-double with 9 points and 13 rebounds. Senior Jacoby Richmond also came off the bench with 5 points and 7 rebounds.

“This game was all about defense and rebounds. We had to stop them early and they were closing in on us, but we had to keep moving forward and rebound the ball as we shut them out in the fourth,” said senior Jacoby Richmond.

The game before that was an even better win as the Dons defeated the Centurions in the Clavier Center as the whole team got some playing time and shut them out. The first quarter started with the Dons leading 19-11. After the first half, the Dons extended their lead as they were leading 33-21 with 10 points from Reid Johnson, Austin Beech and Cameron Moore. After the third, the Dons kept sweeping as they led the game 45-28. The final score was 64-42 with a win and a solid performance from the team.

During their win, the main contribution came from Austin Beech with a double-double, recording 18 points and 10 rebounds, alongside with an outstanding performance from Reid Johnson, who recorded 16 points and 18 rebounds. Junior Davis Gabriel also had 2 assists as he came off the bench and passed to Johnny Harris, who scored two three-pointers.

“We all worked together this game, we knew we could have beaten them if we came up on the beginning. We had players on fire tonight, especially Cameron Moore, Austin Beech and especially Reid Johnson who had most of our teams rebounds,” said Junior Davis Gabriel.

The Dons look to beat Lincoln High School, hoping to improve their record in League. The game takes place at Lincoln High School at 5:15 today. However, the Dons plan to play without starter Austin Beech. Last time these two teams played, the Dons swept the game, beating the Hornets 60-47. The Hornets currently stand at 3-6 in league, as they near the bottom of the league bracket.

Follow @ElCidSports on Twitter for more updates on the team throughout the season.