LAFAYETTE, Calif. — With physical play, scoreless droughts of more than three minutes and bench players accounting for nearly half of the games scoring, it would be hard to call the Acalanes Dons’ 56-54 overtime victory over the Las Lomas Knights anything other than a grinder.
“Fortunately, we did just enough to win,” Acalanes head coach Sol Henik said. “This was definitely one of the sloppiest games I’ve been a part of. We missed a lot of shots going to the rim.”
Points were often tough to come by, but the Dons did get them at crucial times. Trailing 49-46 after a Zach Patterson 3-pointer, Joey Carrillo split a pair of free throws, and even after great defense by Las Lomas’ Gordy Lindsay forced a miss, Acalanes (14-6, 2-4 DAL Foothill) got the ball back with 34.3 seconds left on a traveling call. After another timeout, Carrillo scored in the lane with five seconds to tie the game.
“To be honest, it was a broken play,” point guard Jackson Aris-Dumas said.
Carrillo also intercepted a pass when Las Lomas (13-6, 2-4) tried to set up a game-winning basket, and early in overtime, Graham Smith got the first four points to put the Dons firmly in control. The Knights wouldn’t score until Casey Cappo’s layup off an inbound pass with 19.7 left in the extra period, and a pair of Aris-Dumas free throws all but sealed the game. David Tibbetts hit a desperation 3-pointer, but Aidan Bodner made one of two free throws with 1.9 seconds left and a late heave by the visitors fell short.
Having trailed by as much as nine in the first half and only going into the half within six thanks to Scott Ruegg’s stepback baseline jumper, Aris-Dumas stepped up in the third to will the Dons back into the game. The 5-foot-8 junior didn’t score in the first half, but his seven in the third quarter helped flip the game. Bodner got the first basket of the third, then followed it up with assists on a lay-in by freshman center Jake Davis and a Ruegg floater. Aris-Dumas gave the Dons the lead for the first time since the opening minutes with a three, and though Las Lomas would go back ahead with a pair of Niko Kieffer threes, the Acalanes point guard would get the last basket of the quarter to send his team to the fourth trailing just 41-39.
Nobody scored more than 10 for the Dons, but Smith’s production off the bench was essential for the home side to come out on top. In addition to the baskets in overtime, he answered a Tibbetts three with one of his own after the Knights had opened up their largest lead at 19-10 and sank one in the fourth to put Acalanes up 44-41.
Las Lomas wouldn’t score for the first three-and-a-half minutes of the fourth quarter as the Dons kept the ball away from Kieffer, who hit four 3-pointers between the second and third quarters, and didn’t have to worry about Casey Cappo, who played a tremendous first half, with eight points and seven rebounds before the break, but picked up his fourth foul 53 seconds into the fourth quarter as Bodner drew a push-off.
“Aidan’s defense and energy is just ridiculous,” Henik said after the do-it-all senior not only helped get Cappo in foul trouble but compiled an all-around game of seven points, five rebounds and 11 assists.
Cappo finished with a game-high 14 points and 10 rebounds, but the Knights struggled to score once he picked up the fourth foul. Tibbetts finally broke that trend with 4:26 left to get the visitors back within one. Ruegg went coast-to-coast a minute later to make it 46-43, and though Lindsay drew a foul while scoring two of his 11 points with 2:48 left, he wouldn’t be able to convert the free throw to tie the game.
Free throws were killer for the Knights, who made just four of 11 attempts. Acalanes didn’t put up a stellar night from the charity stripe either, making 11 of 17, but compared to the visitors, the Dons were knocking them down like Steve Nash.
“Free throws are something that we’ve been getting plagued by for quite some time,” second-year Las Lomas head coach Jason Rockwell said. “It’s something that we’re continuing to work on.”
Marco Balestrieri, who had been hearing it from the Acalanes fans throughout the second half after an airball, made one of two free throws to tie it with 2:28 left before Patterson gave the Knights the lead, but they wouldn’t score again for more than five minutes.
The win was the second straight for the Dons after opening league play with four straight defeats, and it wouldn’t have been possible without all hands on deck. Las Lomas had a 25-20 advantage in bench points, but Smith’s 10 and John Kalil’s seven, accounting for all of Acalanes’ points in the first quarter, were huge. Even players who saw the court for just a couple minutes made their presence felt, with Shreekar Pandey scoring off an assist from freshman Theo Stoll late in the second quarter.
“What’s great about our team is that all 12 of us are ready to give whatever minutes they’re gonna get,” Henik said. “They know their name might get called at any time, and they’re ready.”
The Dons will try to avenge an earlier overtime loss to Miramonte (11-9, 3-3) on Wednesday. Las Lomas will hit the road Wednesday to face College Park (9-11, 1-5), 61-47 losers to the Matadors on Monday night.