In a game that came down to the very last second of action, the Dons boys basketball team defeated the Mission Bay Buccaneers by a score of 65-64 to take the Division 3 CIF championship. The title is just the cherry on top of an already impressive season for the Dons who end the year with an overall record of 28-3 and a league record of 10-2.
The Dons started looking a little off against the Buccaneers, who they had seen twice already this year. They got themselves into a hole early in the contest, trailing 18-10 after the first period. Turnovers, shaky ball handling and missed opportunities plagued the Dons for the entirety of the first 8 minutes.
After the intermission, however, the Dons seemed to get into their groove and started to climb back into the game. Kick started by back-to-back three-point shots by junior and game MVP Brandon Michel, the Dons were able to cut into the Buccaneers lead and go into halftime only trailing by two, with a score of 32-30.
With just about three minutes left in the third period, the Dons took their first lead of the game. Afterwards, the teams traded leads with players on both sides making the plays they needed for their teams to come away with the win. The Don prevailed in the third period, however, taking a 47-45 lead into the fourth and final period of play.
About midway through the final quarter, Brandon Michel dove after a loose ball that he had smacked out of the hands of the opposing Buccaneer. The two players seemed to wrestle for the ball for several seconds before a timeout was called and Michel was left on the court in pain and holding his forearm. Brandon was helped off the court and sat for most of the remainder of the contest.
Later, with just seconds remaining and the Dons leading 63-62, junior Xavier Williams got possession of the ball on the Mission Bay side of the court when a very rare and somewhat questionable traveling penalty was called. The penalty gave possession back to the Buccaneers who took advantage of the opportunity and grabbed the lead with two, made free throws to make it 64-63.
With just over 6 seconds left in the CIF championship game, the ball was in bounded to Brandon Michel, who had returned from his earlier arm injury. With time running out, Michel made a phenomenal play, making a two point basket and drawing the penalty.
With about one second left in regulation, Michel took to the free throw line, his team winning 65-64. Brandon, playing some great situational basketball, threw the ball at the rim causing it to rebound to himself and allowing the game clock to expire, giving his team the CIF crown. Aside from scoring the winning basket and 3 three-point shots, Brandon Michel scored a total of 22 points, which led both teams.
The Dons tremendous year is most likely still not done – they are almost certainly the favorites to go to the state championships. Going into the game against the Buccaneers, the Dons were ranked 7th in California in division 3 and were the only San Diego section school to be ranked in the top 10. The Dons now wait for the CIF state bids to be decided.