The Dons boys’ basketball came out of Tuesday night’s game against St. Augustine’s with a 65-61 victory to send them to the CIF championship game this coming Saturday. The matchup against the Saints was the most closely contested game for the Dons so far this post-season, with the Dons and Saints trading leads in the final six minutes before Cathedral could pull away with clutch plays from a key player.
After a greater than 30 minute delay to the game due to technical problems with one of the 35-second shot clocks, the Dons started the game looking extremely sharp. The team put up a quick 5 unanswered points, including a magnificent steal by junior Brandon Michel on the Saint’s very first possession of the game. The Dons scored an impressive 24 points in the first quarter to give them a 24-13 lead after the first 8 minutes.
The Dons continued to control both the ball and the scoreboard, taking a 37-27 lead into halftime. After the intermission, however, the Dons looked flat. They came back out onto the court for the third quarter and played some very sloppy basketball. Turnovers, unnecessary personal fouls and missed opportunities plagued the Dons for much of the game’s second half. After scoring 37 points through two quarters, the Dons could only score 7 points in the third quarter. The Dons still took a 47-43 lead into the final quarter of play
Going into the final quarter, it seemed like the momentum was starting to swing to the side of the Saintsmen. With just about 6 minutes left in the game, the Saints took their first lead of the game. The Don, however, did not get frustrated – they were able to stay focused and do what they needed to come away with the victory. The player of game MVP, Brandon Michel, in particular gave the Dons the boost they needed to advance to the finals.
Michel ended the night with 25 points, leading the team in that category, with 9 points coming in the final quarter. Brandon also hit a clutch 3-point shot late in the game that truly proved to be the final dagger for the Saints. Michel also had 2 steals and 2 blocked shots. Junior Xavier Williams also had a good performance, scoring 11 points and 7 rebounds.
The Dons advance to the CIF finals where they will meet the Buccaneers from Mission Bay High School. The game will be played at the Jenny Craig Pavilion at USD this Saturday, March 3rd, at 3PM. The Buccaneers have an overall record of 19-7 and a league record of 8-4.
The two teams have played each other twice this season with the teams splitting victories. The Dons defeated the Buccaneers 64-56 at the game at Cathedral, with the Buccaneers evening the score with a win of 63-58 at Mission Bay High School later in the year. The loss to Mission Bay broke a 12-game win streak for the Dons. Mission Bay has had somewhat of an easy time so far in the playoffs, including an 84-49 rout of Crawford. The Buccaneers earned the right to play the Dons with a victory against Mount Miguel in the semis with a score of 55-49.