It will be a busy day of sports action throughout the Dublin High School campus on Thursday, January 27th as the Varsity Boys Basketball team, the Varsity Wrestling team, and the Varsity Boys Soccer team will all be playing simultaneously.
The most intriguing of the home contests is the one taking place in the Auxiliary (old) Gym, as the Boys Basketball program will be hosting a triple header against San Ramon Valley. The games were moved up from February 10th to Thursday due to the creation of an EBAL Tournament, creating a facility conflict which forced the game to be played in the Auxiliary (old) Gym. Dublin played all of its home games in that facility for over 40 years before the Sports Complex opened in October of 2010.
In last season’s pandemic limited spring season, the Gaels did play 2 games in the Auxiliary Gym because of the overlapping sports seasons (one of which ironically was against San Ramon Valley). However, there were strict crowd limits in place last spring, and this will be the first time the team has played in front of students and the general public since the 2009-2010 season. Considering that the old gym has less than half the seating capacity of the Sports Complex, it should create a fun atmosphere with an old school throwback vibe that any DHS grad from 1971-2010 can appreciate. Rules requiring either vaccination cards or negative COVID tests for admission will still be in effect.
More than a novelty, the games against San Ramon Valley promise to be competitive contests with quality basketball being played. The Varsity game tips off at 7:00 and has major EBAL and NCS implications, as both teams come into the contest with identical 4-1 league records. The winner of Thursday night’s contest will have a huge advantage when it comes to seeding in the EBAL Tournament and likely NCS as well. At the lower levels, the Freshmen game at 4:00 between the Gaels and Wolves will be a rematch of the San Lorenzo Tournament Championship, a game which Dublin won by 1 point. For the Junior Varsity game at 5:30, San Ramon Valley handed Dublin one of the team’s 3 losses this year, but the Gaels are undefeated since and come into the game with a record of 14-3 overall and 6-0 in EBAL.
The other action taking place on campus Thursday night will feature Dublin battling Foothill in both Wrestling and Boys Soccer. The Wrestling Dual meet was rescheduled from January 13th, with JV taking the mat in the Sports Complex against the Falcons at 6:00 followed by the Varsity at 7:00. Although this is the final home dual meet, the team previously celebrated Senior Night on January 18th with a 39-33 win over Livermore. In Boys Soccer, the JV team will be taking the pitch at 4:00 followed by the Varsity at 6:00. Similar to Boys Basketball, Thursday night’s game will have playoff implications for the Varsity team, as it seeks to improve on its 4-1-3 EBAL record in a push for a high finish in league. The Gaels defeated the Falcons 2-0 in their previous encounter in December.
Rounding out Thursday night’s action, both of our Girls programs are on the road as the Varsity Soccer team travels to face Foothill while the Girls Basketball team plays at San Ramon Valley.
