Sports
Boys Basketball: Dons Blow Late Lead to San Ramon Valley, lose 35-45
Amador Valley led San Ramon Valley by three points with 2:40 seconds remaining, but allowed the Wolves to finish the game on a 13-0 run.
San Ramon Valley 45, Amador Valley 35
The Star: Brandon King led the Dons with 14 points. He hit two three pointers and was a perfect 4 of 4 from the line.
The Turning Point: After beginning the fourth quarter on a 7-0 run, the Dons were up three with a little less than three minutes remaining, but they allowed a San Ramon Valley three-point-play to tie the game. The Dons would not score again and the Wolves went on to score 13 unanswered points.
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The Quote: “I think the boys on the team see that we’re close. We’re a couple plays away from having a breakthrough where we’ll take our team from being a pretty good team to being a great team.” – Dons coach Ralph Fields
What's next? The Dons travel to play at California High School on Friday at 7 pm.
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Bottom Line: Amador Valley learned Tuesday that they are capable of competing against anyone. They led one of EBAL’s top teams after 29 minutes, but failed to score during the final three minutes of the game.
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The boys basketball team left their home gym Tuesday night disappointed after losing to San Ramon Valley High School 45-35.
Last week, during the first week of EBAL league play, the Dons and Monte Vista, matching their league win total from last year (the 2009-10 team finished 2-11 in EBAL play). Because of the hot start, the Dons expected a better result from Tuesday’s game against the Wolves.
“We came into the game thinking we were going to win,” Dons senior guard Brandon King said. “We just struggled at the end, physically.”
The final score, 45-35, did not reflect how close the game was throughout. The Dons competed hard against the Wolves.
The first half was a fast-paced seesaw battle. In the first quarter alone, there were eight lead changes. At the end of the first quarter, the Dons trailed by just one point, 11-10.
“We just played high tempo defense,” King said. “We focused on shutting down (Mark Tollefsen) and (Jordan Giusti).”
The second quarter was much the same. An Amador Valley run would answer an San Ramon Valley run; back and forth the teams went, exchanging the lead four times during the second quarter. The Dons matched San Ramon Valley point for point during the second quarter. At halftime, the Dons were losing by only one point, 21-22.
“I think that tonight we showed that we can play with some of the top teams,” Dons coach Ralph Fields said. “San Ramon is a very good team and a very well coached team. We showed tonight that we can compete with the best of them.”
Rival Foothill thought it could do the same last week in a 39-38 loss to San Ramon Valley.
The Wolves took advantage of their size during the third quarter, scoring all 10 of their third-quarter points on dunks or layups while the Dons struggled to get an open look, scoring only seven points and having four of their shots blocked. Despite dominating the paint, the Wolves led by only four points going into the final quarter of play.
“San Ramon tightened up their defense and they did a good job defensively,” Fields said. “But I also feel like we had a couple shots roll out that normally go in for us. I think that if we shoot what we normally shoot we would have given them a little bit more of a scare.”
Amador opened the fourth quarter on a tear. It didn’t allow the Wolves to score for the first five minutes, 20 seconds of the quarter and went on a 7-0 run. The Dons led 35-32 with only 2:40 left.
“We were trying to keep guys fresh so we could finish the game strong and throw them a couple of different looks to try and keep them off balance,” Fields said. “It worked, for the most part.”
Unfortunately for the Dons, they didn't score again. The Wolves broke their cold streak with a three-point play followed by an alley-oop dunk. The Dons were forced to foul to extend the game after being up by three less than a minute earlier. The Wolves finished the game on a 13-0 run.
“They scored a few buckets in a row by their best player, Tollefsen. He stepped up and played real well during the fourth quarter,” Fields said.
The Dons (10-5, 2-1 EBAL) will attempt to rebound from their first league loss on Friday when they play at California.
“I think the boys on the team see that we’re close,” Fields said. “We’re a couple plays away from having a breakthrough, where we’ll take our team from being a pretty good team to being a great team.”
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San Ramon Valley 45, Amador Valley 35
1 2 3 4 FSRV
11 11 10 13 45 Amador 10 11 7 7 35 Individuals — (fg ftm-fta tp) SRV Kevorkian 1 2-3 4, Guisti 1 2-3 4, Marvin 1 0-0 2, Garrett 1 0-0 2, Holliday 3 2-6 8, Tollefsen 9 6-6 25, Dobrzynski 0 0-2 0. Totals 16 12-20 45. Amador Ruotolo 1 0-0 3, Johansen 3 0-1 6, King 4 4-4 14, Lady 1 0-0 2, Contreras 4 0-0 10. Totals 13 4-5 35. 3-point goals: Contreras 2, King 2, Routolo and Tollefsen. Records: San Ramon Valley 14-1, 2-1 EBAL; Amador Valley 10-5, 2-1 EBAL East Bay Athletic League, boys basketball, 1/11/11——————————
