Boys Basketball: Amador Valley Falls 60-58 to Heritage in Championship Game of Don Nelson Classic

Heritage 60, Amador Valley 58

The Stars: Amador Valley's Nate Johansen scored 21 points, and teammate Jacob Contreras scored 15, including 12 in the second half.

The Turning Point: The Dons owned a 27-17 lead with just over four minutes left in the first half and had a chance to take control, but Heritage finished the half on an 11-1 run to tie the game 28-28.

The Quote: "It's always going to be hard. He's our point guard and one of our best defenders, so we could have used him tonight, but we were right there at the end without him. We can compete with anybody," Contreras said of Brandon King, who missed Saturday night's game after suffering a concussion Friday night against Dublin.

What's next? Amador Valley hosts Dougherty Valley on Tuesday night at 7 p.m. in a non-league game.

Bottom Line: The Dons battled hard but, as coach Ralph Fields said, "ran out of gas a little bit" at the end because of a short rotation with three injured players out, including 6-foot-6 starting forward Trevor Guerrieri and starting point guard Brandon King.

———————————

Playing in tournament championship games is becoming a habit for the Amador Valley High basketball team.

Three weeks ago, the Dons beat Davis 62-46 to win the Gold Dust Tournament at Placerville. Last week they lost 58-44 to Las Lomas in the championship game of their own Amador Basketball Classic.

And on Saturday night they owned a 58-57 lead over Heritage of Brentwood with 1:21 to play in the title game of the sixth annual Don Nelson Classic at Dublin High.

Senior guard Nate Johansen put the Dons ahead with a three-point play — he led the team with 21 — scoring in the key, drawing a foul and sinking the free throw.

"We talked in the half-court. We were like, 'We're going to win this game,'" senior guard Jacob Contreras said. "That 3-pointer at the end, it's a knife to the heart."

Heritage's Dorian Hardy, wide open on the left wing, nailed that dagger 3-point shot with 15 seconds left, putting the Patriots ahead 60-58. Johansen's contested 3-point shot at the buzzer was off, and the Dons walked away after their second straight title-game loss.

"It's just hard," said Contreras, who scored 15 points. "We all hate to lose. We'd love to get another shot at them because I think we would beat them next time. It was a good team effort. We just didn't have the firepower at the end to pull through."

Dons coach Ralph Fields wasn't happy with the loss, but he kept it in perspective. After all, his team, coming off a 9-18 season, is 8-2 and reached the final of three straight tournaments.

"Three tournaments in a row, three weeks in a row, three Saturday nights in a row," Fields said. "It's been a little bit of a grind, but I don't feel sorry for any of them. They get to play basketball on a Saturday night in a championship game. We would all trade with them in a heartbeat."

The Dons faced Heritage without starting point guard Brandon King, who suffered a mild concussion Friday night during a win over Dublin. Six-foot-six forward Trevor Guerrieri, the team's top scorer and rebounder, suffered a season-ending knee injury in the second game. Center Robert Lewis broke a thumb during football season and has yet to play a game.

"It was surprising we did come back the way we did," Fields said. "The kids fought hard. We were running out of gas a little bit with our limited rotation due to injuries. The guys, we held on. They fought all the way through to the end."

Heritage coach Pat Cruickshank, whose team beat Cal 80-54 in a semifinal on Friday night, called timeout with 18.6 seconds left to set up a play. The Patriots got the ball to 6-foot-5 forward Xavier Watson, a dangerous offensive force, on the left block.

The Dons doubled Watson and forced him to give up the ball, but they forgot to cover the sharp-shooting Hardy. Watson passed to a wide open Hardy on the left wing, and he nailed his third 3-point shot of the night with 15 seconds left.

"The rotation was wrong on our defense," Fields said.

Hardy then stole the ball, but he gave it right back when he was whistled for traveling at midcourt with 4.9 seconds left.

Amador inbounded to forward Matt Lady, who passed to Johansen, but he was forced to hoist an off-balance 3-point shot from the right wing that was well off the mark.

"It was supposed to be a give-and-go to me from Matt Lady, but I was covered pretty good," Contreras said. (Watson) didn't give me room to work. Nate had a good shot. He's capable of hitting that. He just didn't hit it today."

Fields was more concerned with his team's defense than any lapses on offense.

"I thought we played very poor defense," Fields said. "It's really not how we got here. That was a little disturbing. We'll get an opportunity next week to get some practice in and work on some of that, but the defensive side of it is something that keeps us in games."

Contreras and Johansen, both chosen for the All-Tournament team, helped keep Amador Valley in the game in the second half when Heritage threatened to take control. Johansen scored 14 points in the second, while the 6-foot Contreras, who had just three first-half points, scored 12.

"I felt like we did a poor job of finding (Contreras) in the first half," Fields said. "Jacob's so tough. He ended up coming in for one of our big guys and playing in the post defensively, and he's a perimeter guy. But it's more a testimony to his toughness than his size.

"He just played so hard against those guys. When we had him doing that, we lost a little bit on the offensive end. We didn't find him the best way we could. And then when we got back in the second half we had an opportunity to put him back on the perimeter and let him create from there."

———————————

Heritage 60, Amador Valley 58

Heritage (5-3) 15 13 16 16 – 60

Amador Valley (8-2) 20 8 18 12 – 58

INDIVIDUALS

Heritage (fg ftm-fta tp) –  Engelstad 7 0-0 15, Blackburn 3 4-6 12, Watson 4 3-3 11, Hardy 3 2-2 11, Grant 2 1-1 5, Trammell 1 0-0 2, Sandy 1 0-0 2, Ned 1 0-0 2. Totals 22 10-12 60.

Amador Valley (fg ftm-fta tp) – Johansen 6 8-9 21, Contreras 6 0-0 15, Routolo 3 0-0 9, Lady 1 3-4 6, Hogan 2 1-2 5, Lawrence 0 2-4 2. Totals 18 14-19 58.

3-point goals: Piedmont 6 (Lyssikatos 2, James-Kavanaugh 2, Bonacum, Hubert). Lick-Wilmerding 3 (Tripp 2, Jay).

Fouled out: Amador Valley -- Hogan.

——————————

Follow Patch Sports East Bay on Twitter