The De Anza Dons men’s basketball team reached the semi-finals at Chabot College in Hayward, before falling short to Las Positas College on Dec. 29 

The Dons defeated Napa Valley College on Dec. 28, but lost to Las Positas the following day, taking them out of the three-day competition. 

The quarterfinal game against Napa Valley began with the Storms’ Brandon Cole shooting the first basket.

Napa held the lead until Dons players Denzel Copeland and George Henderson started making multiple steals and fast breaks. Copeland scored nine points in the first half, while Henderson scored eight. At the end of the first period, the score held at 31-29, with De Anza in the lead. 

In the second period, Don Washington became the lead scorer and rebounder of the game for De Anza.  He totaled 20 points and grabbed 12 rebounds by the end buzzer. James Tyler added seven rebounds and nine points. The game finished with the Dons beating the Storms 76-61. 

James Tyler,  a freshman guard, said, “We started off slow, but as we got more of a feel for the game, we started to pick up. It was a good game.” 

The next day, De Anza battled against Las Positas and fell 75-59, but it was not from a lack of effort. The Dons held a lead of 41-36 in the first half with top scoring by Copeland with eight points and Frank Small with six points.  In the second period, Las Positas came back more determined and started to press on defense, which forced a Dons timeout. After the timeout, De Anza came back with quicker passes and more rebounds, but ultimately could not match up to Las Positas’ defense. 

 “As a team, we played great,” Dons’ player Frank Small said. “Unfortunately our defense was not that good, and we weren’t able to execute like we did in the first half.”