Lady Dons win wild one

The Lady Dons (1-0 PAL South, 6-7 overall) emerged on the offensive glass to persevere through 12 lead changes, taking the lead with 44 seconds to go when sophomore Megan Grant grabbed an offensive rebound and danced between two Mustangs defenders to score the game-winner. Aragon totaled 14 offensive boards in the contest, six of them coming in the fourth quarter.

“It had a tremendous impact because that’s what we’re taught to do,” Grant said. “Just crash for rebounds. That’s what we want, especially when it comes down to the wire. That’s what we needed.”

It was a tall order for Cap (0-1, 6-7) to contend in the post. The Mustangs entered play having lost their best player to injury, 6-foot sophomore Mele Afeaki, who suffered a dislocated kneecap Saturday at practice.

Afeaki was on the sideline Wednesday, on crutches, and will miss at least six weeks.

“It’s so different because we so count on [Afeaki] to get all the rebounds because she can do that,” Capuchino head coach Steve Hoff said. “So, I think now, moving forward, we preach five (players) on the glass all the time, but now I really have to make sure we preach everyone’s got to rebound. It’s going to take all of us.”

The Mustangs won the overall rebounding war 34-33, thanks to sophomore Jaisa Gamble’s double-double. The 5-9 post player moved from power forward to center to take over for Afeaki, and finished with 14 points and a game-high 13 rebounds.

But the Dons took over on the glass at the outset of the final period. With the game deadlocked 31-31, guard Jordan Beaumont trailed a missed 3-point attempt by Lydia Manu, rebounded it with a step toward the basket and scored it to give Aragon the lead.

The 5-4 Beaumont, a sophomore, finished with 12 points and seven rebounds.

“What she’s really good at is she follows her shot,” Aragon head coach Sam Manu said. “But, here’s the thing, she follows everybody else’s shot too. She’s the best on our team at that. And nobody expects it because she’s just a little guard.”

Lydia Manu scored a bucket for 2 of her game-high 15 points to up the lead to 36-33, but Cap responded with a 7-point run to match the largest lead of the game for either team at 40-36.

But then something funny happened. The 4-point deficit sparked Aragon’s adrenaline and, less than a minute later, after senior Angie Olive battled for an offensive board and put-back, and Beaumont drilled a 3 from the perimeter, the Dons were quickly back up 41-40.

“I think it’s just the adrenaline that’s rushing through us,” Beaumont said. “I think we needed to just calm down and settle and then, because we have so much adrenaline, we have much more energy to play defense.”

Then came a torrid back-and-forth with both teams trading momentous shots over the next minute.

Cap fired back with sophomore Hailey Hoff — who shared the team-high of 14 points — knocking down a 3 to give the Mustangs a 43-41 advantage. Then, after an Aragon timeout, the Dons got the ball into Grant’s hands for an open look from 3-point land, and the sophomore spun up a dagger 3 to give her team a 44-43 lead.

“Coach literally said on a timeout I’m going to get the ball, I’m going to shoot it and I’m going to make it,” Grant said. “That’s exactly what happened.”

Cap drove back down and retook the lead 45-44 when Gamble hit nothing but net on a 15-foot jumper.

Aragon misfired on a 3-point attempt next time down, but Cap couldn’t capitalize. The Mustangs got a nice look on a drive to the basket but missed a layup with a minute to go. Capuchino shot 37% on the night, but the short game proved problematic throughout.

“I think the key to the whole game was we couldn’t finish bunnies,” Steve Hoff said. “I think we probably missed eight, nine [easy layups]. So, if we finish half of them then it’s a totally different story.”

Grant followed with her game-winning score off the offensive board to finish with six points, all in the fourth quarter.

Cap had a chance to retake the lead on its next possession by getting the ball into the hands of guard Tiare Novero-Paaga. The senior had opened the night with the hot hand, sinking two 3s in the first quarter. And with 35 seconds to go, she received a pass in the corner for a wide-open look.

Instead of trying for the 3, however, Novero-Paaga put the ball to the floor and attempted to drive the baseline. The Aragon defense converged quickly, however, forcing a turnover to all but end it.

“I think she was trying to be unselfish,” Steve Hoff said. “I would have loved to see her pull that shot because she had a pretty good stroke working tonight, and she was kind of by herself. But if we make mistakes because we’re being unselfish, I can deal with that.”