Varsity Boys Basketball fights hard against De La Salle
Abe Tabatabian (’22), Tyler Cheng (’22), Brady Nassar (’22), and Foster Keast (’22) planning their next move on the court.
January 27, 2022
The varsity boys basketball team lost 48-24 to the De La Salle Spartans at home two nights ago, bringing their overall record to 9-6 and their league record to 1-1.
The game started out promisingly, with the Dons grabbing the ball first and clinching the first shot in the hoop. Three-pointers and baskets from point guard Tyler Cheng (‘23) and Brady Nassar (‘22) bolstered their score.
Though the De La Salle team stood at an average several inches taller than the Amador team, the two remained at neck-and-neck.
At the end of the first quarter, the Spartans began to pull ahead, continuing to rack up points in the second quarter. The score read 34-12 at halftime, during which the Amador Dance Team performed a hip-hop routine.
From the third quarter onwards, the Dons began to push back against the Spartans with more aggression. They scored 12 more points in the second half, compared with De La Salle’s 14 point gain.
In the end, even with more evenly matched third and fourth quarters, De La Salle beat the Dons, ending with a final score of 48-24 to De La Salle.
For Nassar, this game wasn’t his best, but he’s proud the team put up a solid fight and managed to hold the Spartans, a team with a 78% victory rate and four week winning streak, under 50 points.
“I didn’t score that much, but on defense I did really well,” said Nassar. “We could have scored more, and would’ve got a closer game, but we held them at 48 points which is a low score for them.”
Head coach Willis Gardner also noted the team’s biggest issue was struggling to score more baskets, something partly attributed to the team’s recent two-week pause due to COVID. They resumed practice last Thursday.
Despite their loss, Gardner looks ahead to helping the varsity team improve and “get their rhythm back.”
“Good thing we get back to work tomorrow,” said Gardner. “I told the team: ‘win, lose, or draw, let’s just make sure we get better every day.’”
The Dons next play Granada High School on Thursday at 7 PM and Monte Vista High School on Saturday at 4 PM.
