January 9, 2006

Dons drop final non-league game 64-42 at Willow Glen

Del Mar’s record drops to 3-10; Arron Mollet leads team with 15 points

By Diego Abeloos
Sports Editor

With West Valley Division league play just around the corner, the Del Mar boys’ basketball squad finished their non-league schedule on a down note with a 64-42 loss at Willow Glen on Dec. 28.

Del Mar’s Max Heckmann goes up for a shot during a 64-42 loss to Willow Glen on Dec. 28. Heckmann finished with 7 points overall. Photo by Tom Look

With the loss, the Dons saw their record drop to 3-10 on the season. Guard Arron Mollet provided much of the offensive spark for the Dons, dropping in a team-high 15 points in the loss, including 9 points in the third quarter and 12 points overall in the second half.

The Dons were without two of their starters in forward Nick Bourdens and Dallin Blank. Bourdens had the stomach flu and was forced from the game after only a couple of minutes of play, while Blank experienced some blurry vision in the first few minutes of the game, forcing him to the bench as well.

“Unfortunately, we had a couple of our starters who were unable to go tonight, so I think a couple of guys really picked up their games instead,” said Dons head coach Eric Ostrowski. “…I think Arron Mollet did a good job in the second half, trying to find his shot.”

The Dons were down from the very start, as the Rams held a 20-1- lead after the first quarter before extending their lead to 36-21 at halftime.

With the Rams up 40-21 in the early portion of the third quarter, the Dons relied on Mollet to keep the score from getting out of hand. Mollet responded by supplying 9 of the team’s 14 points in the third quarter, hitting a jumper at 4:00 and a layup at 3:21 in helping to cut the Rams’ lead to 14.

Later in the quarter, with the Rams up 45-28, Mollet cut the lead once more, hitting a layup before sinking a 3-pointer from the left wing in a one-minute span during a small 7-2 run for the Dons toward the end of the third.

“He’s got a great shot,” Ostrowski said of Mollet. “He’s only a junior right now, and he’s trying to figure out what he can do offensively. Last year he was primarily a set shooter, and he’s got more to his game than that. He’s trying to evolve right now and he’s got a sweet little stroke. …He showed a little bit of both tonight.”

Del Mar’s Arron Mollet led the team with 15 points overall, including 12 points in the second half. Mollet scored 9 of his team’s 14 points in the third quarter. Photo by Diego Abeloos

The Rams found themselves in foul trouble early, accumulating six team fouls in the third quarter alone. That provided a window of opportunity for the Dons to get back into things in the fourth by drawing fouls and going to the line for bonus free throws.

The plan appeared to work at first, with Dons forward Dereck Walls drawing a foul and sinking two bonus shots with 7:37 left in the fourth quarter. But from that point on, the Dons were unable to capitalize on the opportunity, drawing only four more fouls for the entire fourth quarter and hitting just 3 of 7 shots from the line.

That allowed the Rams to build up their lead once more with a 10-1 run in the first half of the fourth quarter, while limiting the Dons to just seven points for the entire quarter.

“It was a little frustrating,” Ostrowski said of his team’s inability to get to the line more in the fourth quarter.

“We’re a real young team and we’re still trying to learn all the nuances of the game. Obviously, you want to go in and knock down foul shots to extend the game, but it’s just something we’re learning to do. We see the lead and being young, we think we need to jack up three’s where, in retrospect, you go to the line, knock down two free throws and save a bunch of time on the clock.”

The Dons open league play on Jan. 4 with a home game against James Lick before embarking on their first league road game on Jan. 6 at Yerba Buena.