By Sam Stack, Staff Writer
The Acalanes Men’s Basketball Team (0-3) traveled to Montgomery High School to participate in the Russ Peterich Viking Tip-Off classic. The tournament was filled with very challenging teams for the Dons to face. and they finished in last place.
In their first game the Dons faced host Montgomery. The Vikings posed many problems for the Dons small lineup with two big men over 6 foot 6 inches tall. The Dons battled but were unable to prevail, losing by 8.
The Dons went on to play Redwood High School from Larkspur in their second game. Down 12 points in the third quarter, the Dons stormed right back into the game with an 11-0 run. The Dons were able to take a 2 point lead in the fourth but couldn’t hold on, losing 54-48.
Following the two losses the Dons had to play in the 7th place game against McClymonds High School. Starting out flat, at one point being down 17-5, the Dons continued to battle, cutting the score to seven in the third quarter but couldn’t continue the comeback and lost 64-46.
Although the Dons didn’t finish where they would have hoped in the tournament they know that they can improve. Sluggish starts plagued the sputtering Dons as they also failed to maintain a high level of play throughout the game but instead scored in spurts.
“We need to cut down on turnovers, slowing the game down and staying calm will help us.” said senior guard Joey Hewitt.
Hewitt led the team in scoring in the tournament averaging 21 points over their three games. The Dons will next play tournament host Sir Francis Drake in the opening round on December 10th and are poised to bounce back from their early season struggles.
The tough outcome of this tournament by no means spells doom for the Dons, a relatively young team after losing 4 senior starters last season. There is a lot of season left to be played and Acalanes needs to move past the bad and focus on the good that came out of this tournament.
“We’re building a lot of chemistry playing with each other,” said Hewitt. “We have a good foundation and we’ve played hard every game so we’re on the right track.”