Burlingame boys’ basketball wins wild one over Aragon

After trailing most of the first half, Aragon — fueled by the Dons’ 26-point second quarter — overtook the Panthers late in the first half to grab a 35-34 lead heading into halftime. But Burlingame’s (3-0 PAL South) defense flustered the Dons in the third quarter, holding them to 2-of-7 shooting from the floor, to seize control of the game.

“When we looked at the stats at halftime, we saw that there were only really two guys,” Burlingame head coach Jeff Dowd said. “So, I told [junior guard Jacob Yamagishi]: ‘Don’t worry about your help responsibilities. Get on [Aragon’s big shooter] and no open looks; make him a driver.’”

Aragon’s big shooter in the first half was senior Ryan Tait, who rallied the Dons back in the second quarter with a spree of three 3s. The Dons went 5 of 7 from beyond the arc in the period, outscoring Burlingame 26-17 to cap a fever-pitched first half. In fact, neither team even called a timeout until two and a half minutes into the third quarter.

The Dons (1-2) never even attempted a 3-pointer in the second half. Burlingame’s full-court press was the catalyst in Aragon’s eight turnovers in the third period. And the Dons’ tired legs led to an abysmal 3-of-14 clip from the free-throw line in the second half.

“Because of the skills format we’ve run this year, which is no-contact, we’ve done a ton of shooting and a ton of free throws,” Aragon head coach Ben Batory said. “So, my expectation, especially after the first half, is that we’d be knocking these things down. And to go 3 of 14, and giving back 11 points, especially against a team like Burlingame, if you shoot yourself in the foot like that, it’s only going to come back to haunt you. And that was the difference.”

Boy, was it an exciting first half, though.

“We’re a lot of guards, so we can definitely move the ball,” Yamagishi said. “We’ve got a lot of pace on us. So, I think we can definitely outrun teams if they want to play like that.”

Burlingame opened on a hot streak, with Yamagishi and Carson Robenalt combining for three quick 3s to give the Panthers a 9-1 lead. But a 17-9 lead after one quarter of play didn’t hold up, thanks to Aragon managing to match Burlingame’s speed and shooting intensity.

The Dons closed it to 24-22 when junior Troy Johnson nabbed a steal and pushed it up to Tait for a perimeter 3. This set off a 3-point shootout of epic proportions.

Burlingame fired back with junior Tyler Mausehund hitting a 3 to make it 27-22. Aragon came right back on a long perimeter 3 by Lucas Yoo to make it 27-25. Burlingame reupped to 30-25 on sophomore M.J. Dowd’s only 3 of the half. Then Aragon sophomore Logan Wall got in on it, drilling a 3 to make it 30-28.

A Burlingame turnover on a traveling call gave the Dons a shot at the lead, and Aragon big man Murphy Callo — who notched a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds — finally caught Burlingame with a post-up 2 to tie it at 30.

The Panthers finally took the lead 34-32 when Wall swished from downtown with 36 seconds to go in the half. This too would have been a 3, but Wall’s toe was on the line, making for a long 2-point jumper.

“Our defense in the first quarter, it was good … but when they started hitting 3s, we just weren’t guarding tight enough,” Yamagishi said. “And as soon as we started guarding tight enough in the third quarter … we just picked it up right there.”

Burlingame slowed things up in the second half and got tactical with its offense, being certain to maintain a more deliberate passing scheme.

“We wanted to try to get the ball inside against the zone,” Dowd said. “Because they kind of did a little bit of man in the first half, and we were able to get some easy looks in the first half. And the zone, it kind of forces them to go slow. And we said don’t settle for the first open, try to get the next, best shot after that. … But I also thought, the pressure … and that’s when we kind of turned it.”

Yamagishi matched the game-high with 15 points, while the Panthers had two double-digit performances off the bench with Zaden Martin’s 12, and M.J. Dowd’s 11. Panthers point guard Lou Martineau racked up 10 assists and five steals.

Burlingame prides itself on finishing strong. The Panthers outscored the Dons 18-5 in the third quarter, and 12-8 in the fourth.

“We’ve been pretty strong,” Burlingame sophomore Kyle Haslam said. “We’ve just got to keep through the contact and we’ll keep on getting those and-1s.”