It was a home game for the De Anza Mountain Lions in Cupertino, but for forward Sean Crowley (De Anza No. 32), 20, business administration major, this was a game against his former team: the Cañada Colts. That didn’t change his mentality going into the game during the pregame.
“I just want to go out there and do my best,” Crowley said.
“We have got to keep doing what we do,“ Assistant Coach Pat Gallmann said. “We have got to do it for 40 minutes, got to value the basketball and really emphasize getting the little things done. Blocking out, second effort, loose balls, 50-50 balls, we have to dictate all that against this team.”
The Mountain Lions started the game down 5-0, but quickly got the offense going, with Crowley getting inside to score against his former team twice.
Guard Justice Owens (De Anza, No. 4), 21, business administration major, followed up with getting a three-pointer in. The Mountain Lions were then able to score on a fast break, which led Cañada’s head coach to call a timeout.
De Anza’s defensive strategy was on a different level in the first half. They sent two players to pressure any of the Colts players who took the ball after an inbound. If the Colts were to get past the half-court, they would have a tough time trying to get into the paint with De Anza’s exceptional 2-3 setup.
Any time a Colt drove in around the mid-range or into the paint, De Anza’s defense was there to collapse, forcing Cañada to stay out of the lane and forcing up tough 3s.
The Mountain Lions went into halftime leading 39-29.
What was the message for the team coming out of halftime? Gallmann said, “0-0, we got 20 minutes of relentless Mountain Lion basketball.”
The Mountain Lions were well aware of the team they were going against. Gallmann recalled the Colts coming back from a 21-point deficit against Ohlone College and even walking away with a victory, so the Mountain Lions knew this game was going to go until the final buzzer.
The Mountain Lions were looking like their first-half selves on the defensive end as Crowley kept the defensive energy with a block that hit off a Colt, giving De Anza possession, hoping to continue the momentum they had in the first half — although, the Mountain Lions’ offensive momentum didn’t seem to carry over.
It felt like a total switch as what the Mountain Lions were doing in the first half, the Colts were now doing in the second half.
The Colts were starting to get into the paint, led by Jake Skaggs (Cañada No. 12) — they started climbing their way back into the game with Darius Jackson (Cañada No. 24) knocking a couple of shots in, including a 3 pointer. Eventually, Brylan Lundy (Cañada No. 2) would find room for a layup and tie the game at 56-56.
The Mountain Lions got themself into foul trouble as they had 9 fouls in the second half — with 8:27 left — when they only recorded 7 fouls in all of the first half. Fouls continued to plague De Anza as Crowley fouled out of the game, with 4:08 left.
In the next play, a little scuffle took place with a Mountain Lion and Colt, as Owens kicked the ball that bounced off Jackson’s ankle, ejecting Owens from the game as it was his second technical foul. The Mountain Lions were now down two players with the score being 61-56 in the Colts’ favor.
The Colts did not look back and the game ended with the score being 71-61. De Anza was only able to get one bucket to go in after Crowley and Owens left the game, with 4 minutes left.
It may have been a tough game for the De Anza Mountain Lions, but forward Theo McDowell (De Anza, No. 24), 18, business marketing, who led the team in points in tonight’s game with 18 points, found some positives that could help lead the team into the next game.
“I just think we keep getting better,” McDowell said. “Every day, we come into practice, and I think we keep working on the little things — being aggressive, focusing on attacking the paint and kicking out (the other team).”
McDowell highlighted that the Mountain Lions needed to stay consistent if they wanted to see results.
“If we keep doing those things, we’ll just keep doing better.”
The De Anza Mountain Lions fall to 0-4 in their conference as their next game is Wednesday, Jan. 22 at home against City College of San Francisco at 7 p.m.
