By Konnor McIntosh and Gabe Crosetti
For those unfamiliar with Las Positas basketball, they might have believed Golden State Warrior guard Stephen Curry was out on the floor tonight.
Instead, freshman guard for Las Positas, Nick Evans put on a Curry-like performance as he exploded for five three pointers in a five minute stretch in the first half.
The Hawks struggled offensively against the Diablo Valley College 2-3 zone defense throughout the first half. It wasn’t until Evans came off the bench that Las Positas found their rhythm offensively, hitting five three-pointers in roughly five minutes and swarming the DVC offense on the defensive end.
Las Positas could have been up by more but struggled at the free throw line. However, their size down low with Donald Mims and Stokley Chaffee forced DVC to take low percentage shots. Caleb Baskett provided the first half highlight with a thunderous tomahawk dunk with around three minutes left in the first half giving the Hawks a 12 point lead at the time.
DVC, led by guard Rodney Pope, who was high school teammates with Oklahoma running back Joe Mixon at Freedom High, was out of control due to the Hawks’ suffocating full court press, which allowed LPC to play at their tempo and end the first half with a 41-33 lead. Coach Giacomazzi employed a 2-2-1 box press and a man-to-man press, confusing DVC’s guards.
LPC hopes to build on their lead in the second half and seal their first playoff win this postseason. If they can hold on, they will travel to play second seeded Feather River College next week.