Dons too much for Woodside

The Wildcats did rebound with two more wins last week.

Aragon was reeling coming into its first league game of the new year. The Dons, which started the season 4-2, were mired in a seven-game losing streak — which included a 60-57 loss to Mills just before the winter break, along with a three straight losses in the West Coast Jamboree tournament last week.

“Preseason was tough on us,” said Aragon head coach Sam Manu. “But we played tough competition and it prepared us for league.”

Using a suffocating defense and quick, attacking transition offense, the Dons methodically pulled away from Woodside for a 59-23 victory.

Despite the lopsided win, Aragon (1-1 PAL South, 5-9 overall) left a lot of points out there. The Dons not only struggled with their shooting, they had trouble making even the easiest baskets, missing several layups.

In the end, Aragon simply overwhelmed Woodside with its quantity of shots.

“We want to create our offense off our defense. We’re still working on that,” Manu said.

Defensively, the Dons were on point. They held Woodside (0-2, 9-2) to single-digit scoring in the first three quarters, allowing 7, 3 and 2 points. The Wildcats finally put some offense together in the fourth, with Hailey Stewart scoring six of her team-high 11 points over the final eight minutes.

But much like Aragon, the Wildcats struggled to find a shooting rhythm. They, too, had a number of shots rim out, but they struggled to get the ball to the basket off the dribble and instead settled for long-range jumpers.

Aragon got the first points of the game five seconds in as the Dons won the tip and guard Lydia Manu instantly jacked up a jumper that banked off glass and in.

Stewart responded with a jumper of her own off the dribble to tie the score at 2-all, but Woodside would go more than six minutes without another point.

Aragon, meanwhile, looked to work the ball into the post and Lia Lilomaiava went to work on the block. She converted 2 of 4 free throws to give Aragon a 4-2 lead, one it would not relinquish. She followed that with a pair of layups, including a spin into the paint and a baby-hook finish, which gave the Dons an 11-2 lead.

Lilomaiava would finish with a game-high 12 points.

Sydney Fujimoto finally broke the dry spell for Woodside with a 3-pointer and Natalya Hotovec followed with a dribble-drive basket at the buzzer to cut the Wildcats’ deficit to 11-7 after one quarter.

In the second, Woodside was doing just enough to stay within striking distance. When Stewart hit 1 of 2 free throws, the Wildcats trailed by 12, 22-10, with 3:41 left in the second half.

Woodside would go scoreless the rest of the way while Aragon went on a 10-0 run to end the quarter with a 22-point lead at the break, 32-10.

In the third quarter, Aragon really got going in transition as the Dons came up with seven third-quarter steals and forced seven more Woodside turnovers as four of the Dons’ six third-quarter baskets were layups.

The other two field goals were 3-pointers from freshman Megan Grant and senior Galia Der Abrahamian, who finished with 10 points. Der Abrahamian’s 3 gave Aragon a 46-12 lead going into the fourth period.

At that point, it was time for players on both benches to get some playing time.

After the Dons went 23-6 last season, there was a lot of expectations for the 2018-19 season. But graduation, grades and another player moving out of state, left Manu with two returning starters a three freshmen, all of whom are capable of starting.

“The future looks bright,” Manu said. “But the present is a work in progress.”