The Dons (16-10 overall, 8-4 Peninsula Athletic League) faced the Leigh Longhorns (14-12 overall, 11-3 Blossom Valley League) in the CCS semi-finals on Feb. 27. Leigh beat the Dons in the 2017 playoffs, but this year the tables were turned. The Dons came out victorious 54-51, landing them in the CCS Championship against Valley Christian (13-13 overall, 2-12 West Catholic League).
The game started with Leigh winning the tip-off. After three minutes of moving the ball back and forth, Leigh started the game by scoring six straight points. However, the Dons’ fast breaks gave them the opportunity to score, and senior guard Davion Cox led the way, scoring nine points in the quarter, which Aragon finished with a 12-11 lead.
“We did really well on defense and Davion just went off and did really good,” said junior guard Sammy Manu.
In the second quarter, Leigh scored three 3-pointers. Their shooters were consistent with their shots, particularly senior forward Riley Houser and senior small forward Ryan Shenefiel. Aragon senior forward Moses Olive had notable passes to senior center Gabe Lukaszewicz and senior guard Donovan Robinson, who scored seven and six points in the quarter, respectively. The red and black played aggressive offense, scoring a total of 17 points in the quarter while also playing hard defense defense, getting steals and finishing every stop with a rebound. At the end of the quarter, the Dons were held a 29-24 lead.
“We just were really focused, we just wanted it,” Manu said. “We had a little bit more motivation because I heard that Leigh beat us last year.”
In the previous games, the Dons performed well in the first half, but by the second half began to make basic mistakes such as making poor passes and giving up rebounds. But that trend was not true Tuesday, as they remained consistent, made good plays and avoided sloppy mistakes.
“Every quarter was consistent and we never gave up,” said senior guard Chris Swartz. “We were consistent as we really wanted this win. We’re now prepared for this, as we previously had bad second halves, so we worked on closing out games and it really paid off.”
Senior guard Tommy Cheang hit two 3-pointers and scored a total of eight points in the third quarter. The Dons had gotten several steals, and tried to keep the ball on one side of the court. The Dons scored 16 points in the quarter, keeping their lead and ending the third quarter ahead 45-38.
In the final quarter, Leigh slowly began to claw their way back. The Longhorns’ consistent and precise shooting led them to score a total of 13 points. However, it wasn’t enough to walk out of the building with a win.
“[We need to] improve on closing out on the shooters, as [Leigh] had some really good shooters,” Manu said. “And [we need to improve on] taking care of the last quarter.”
Up next, the Dons will be playing for a CCS Division II Championship against Valley Christian on March 3 at Independence High School.
“We’ve just got to ball out and beat Valley Christian and get the win,” Manu said.
