The first meeting of the Campolindo and Miramonte boys' basketball teams on Tuesday, January 12th was a game of quarters. When it was all done, Campolindo had won three of the quarters and the game-with a final score of 56 to 41. The Matadors allowed the visiting Cougars to score the first nine points of the game. Junior Carl King opened the game with a short jumper and senior Adam Mancebo hit two short baskets as well. Brian Sanders notched a three as well before senior Payam Vadi put the Mats on the board with two free throws. King hit a layup for Campo and senior Chris Hatfield responded with a free throw for the Mats to cut the lead to 11-3 before the Cougars scored six more points for a 17-3 lead. Finally with 1:15 to go in the first, senior Spenser McDonald drained a three to ignite the home crowd. The period ended at 19-9 Campolindo. In the second quarter the momentum shifted and the Mats were on the run. Senior Troy Akin of the Mats hit two threes in a row, Hatfield added a traditional three point play as well as two more free throws and junior Anthony Piganelli a layup, and Miramonte was in front 21-19. The 15 point run ended when King scored a layup on a pass from senior Pat Wirth at 3:14 of the second. Campo had not scored in nearly six minutes. The team exchanged the lead the rest of the half, but Campo was still ahead 26-25 going into intermission. For the first four minutes of the second half, the team exchanged baskets: senior Davis Louie recorded a trey and Akin added two more long range jumpers for Miramonte while Mancebo and senior Kellen Ito scored from inside for the Cougars. The Mats led 34-32 with 5:10 left in the third when King fed a pass to senior Matt Keeble who scored and was fouled and hit the free throw. The tide changed at this point as Miramonte did not score again in the period, while the Cougars methodically played strong defense and padded their lead to 44-34 at the end of three. Other than free throws from Hatfield and McDonald, and a McDonald basket off a pass from sophomore Ross Anderson, Miramonte's offense was stifled by the Cougars, who during a stretch of almost thirteen minutes held Miramonte to just those four points. The balance of the fourth quarter saw Campo pull away behind King's spot up three and four free throws. King led all scorers with 13 points while Akin led the Mats with 12, all from outside the arc. Ito finished with seven rebounds for Campo while Hatfield had 13 rebounds for Miramonte. After the game, Ito said, "Part of our game plan was to keep the Mats leading scorer, Hatfield, away from the basket and we were happy that we did it pretty well." They held him to just nine points on 2-of-8 shooting. Campolindo coach Matt Watson added, "We caught Miramonte on an off night. I challenged our kids at half time to win every battle and our kids played tough. We won the second half 30-16. I expect our next meeting to be much closer; Miramonte is well coached and has a ton of talent." The defending DFAL champion Matadors dropped to 2-1 and 8-7 overall. On Friday night, Campolindo traveled to Acalanes to take on the Dons. The Cougars pushed hard in the first two periods and led by 35-25 at the intermission. The teams played pretty evenly in the second half with Campo churning out a 65-56 win. Sanders had 17 points to lead a balanced Campo attack. Ito added 15 and Mancebo 13. They both had ten rebounds. For the Dons, senior Zach Bloom recorded 18 and senior Jay Fowler scored 11. The win gave Campo (14-4) a 4-0 league record and sole possession of first place in the DFAL.
L-R Spenser McDonald (#2), Chris Hatfield (#14), Carl King (#10),
Davis Louie (#24) and Kellen Ito (#25) Photo Doug Kohen
L-R: Troy Akin (13), Matt Keeble (34) and Brian Sanders (22) Photo Doug Kohen
The Matadors allowed the visiting Cougars to score the first nine points of the game. Junior Carl King opened the game with a short jumper and senior Adam Mancebo hit two short baskets as well. Brian Sanders notched a three as well before senior Payam Vadi put the Mats on the board with two free throws. King hit a layup for Campo and senior Chris Hatfield responded with a free throw for the Mats to cut the lead to 11-3 before the Cougars scored six more points for a 17-3 lead. Finally with 1:15 to go in the first, senior Spenser McDonald drained a three to ignite the home crowd. The period ended at 19-9 Campolindo.
Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA