Aragon girls' basketball team falls to tall Los Gatos

The Wildcats featured a number of players who were taller than the Dons’ tallest player, who goes 5-9. So it should come as no surprise that Los Gatos controlled the boards that helped the Wildcats hold off the Dons, 43-41, in San Mateo Thursday night.

“We didn’t rebound well,” Manu said. “Six-footers and 5-11s across the front and they all start (for Los Gatos). We don’t have that kind of height.”

That height advantage was especially noticeable on the offensive end, where Los Gatos (2-0) put in the work. The Wildcats outrebounded Aragon (2-1) 43-31 overall, but the offensive rebounding numbers were glaring: 25 for Los Gatos to 10 for the Dons.

“I’ve never seen anything like that,” Manu said.

The Wildcats could not take advantage of their advantage on the glass, however. Los Gatos only came away with the win because Jeanette Gratsy drained a left-corner 3-pointer with 11 seconds left and then the Wildcats forced Aragon’s Jordan Beaumont into a desperation 3 from nearly halfcourt to escape with the win.

Aragon, on the other hand, didn’t help its cause offensively. While the Dons did a better job on the boards in the second half — they actually outrebounded the Wildcats 17-14 over the final two quarters — they struggled from the field, connecting on just 17 of 51 shots, failing to make more than five field goals in any one quarter.

“We missed a lot,” Manu said. “We were in a hurry. That whole first half can be summarized as too much in a hurry.”

Los Gatos, who struggled just as much scoring, made up for it at the free-throw line, where the Wildcats made more (12) than the Dons attempted (6).

Aragon opened the scoring when Beth Parangan came up with a steal and fast-break layup less than a minute into the game.

It would nearly four minutes before the Dons scored again.

Meanwhile, Los Gatos was doing a lot of work on the offensive glass and getting to the line, but the Wildcats couldn’t muster more than 9 points during the Dons’ drought.

When Parangan pulled down one of her five offensive boards and dished a pass to Kayla Fukunaga as she was falling backward, with Fukunaga converting a layup, it helped trigger a 6-0 Aragon run to end the opening quarter, trailing just 11-10.

A three-point play from the Wildcats to start the second quarter gave them a little breathing room and when Nicole Steiner, a 6-foot freshman, converted a pair of free throws, Los Gatos led 16-12.

But buckets from Parangan and Mabryn Manu tied the game at 16-all. Los Gatos surged back for a 19-16 lead, but Aragon finished the half on a 7-1 run. Parangan nailed a pair from the stripe, Beaumont knocked down her first 3 of the game and Mabryn Manu hit a jumper to give the Dons a 23-20 lead at halftime.

That late run, again, fueled the Dons’ offense to start the second half. Mabryn Manu scored on a layup, Beaumont converted a three-point play and Parangan drove through the middle of the Los Gatos defense for a layup and a 30-25 lead with 5:22 left in the third quarter.

“[Los Gatos] can dominate at the rim, but their perimeter defense is what we were trying to attack,” Coach Manu said. “That’s where we wanted to be — against them.”

Unfortunately, like they did in the first half, the Dons went cold again in third as they didn’t score again for nearly three minutes as the Wildcats rallied to close to 30-29.

Grace Nai hit an off-balance bucket for a 32-29 lead for Aragon, but the Wildcats scored the final three points of the quarter to tie the game at 32-going into the final period.

Aragon’s offensive struggles continued in the fourth quarter, as the Dons managed only 9 points. Los Gatos scored only 11 over the final eight minutes, but the Wildcats scored the right points at the right time. When Claire Galbo knocked a 3 for the Wildcats, it gave them a 37-36 lead with 4:38 left in the game.

But when Beaumont drained a 3 with 25 seconds remaining, it put the Dons up 41-40, with Beaumont giving a fist pump as she headed back on defense.

But the Dons couldn’t get the stop as Gratsy’s 3 proved to be the difference.

Gratsy led the Wildcats with 12 points, while Aragon’s Parangan and Mabryn Manu also scored 12 points apiece.