It was another wild yet successful weekend for Dublin High School Athletics highlighted by dramatic comebacks and championship performances.
The action began on Thursday night as the Varsity Girls Soccer team battled back late to forge a 2-2 tie on the road against perennial juggernaut San Ramon Valley. With the Gaels trailing 2-0 and under five minutes left in the match, Yusra Rabi and Grace Toney each scored goals to stun a Wolves squad who was on the verge of victory.
Dublin’s tie culminated a brutal stretch of 6 consecutive road matches where they finished 4-1-1 to improve to 12-4-3 overall and 4th place in EBAL at 5-3-2. The squad has three consecutive home matches this week with the EBAL’s first place team (Monte Vista) coming to Gaels Stadium on Tuesday before Senior Night on Thursday against Dougherty Valley and the home finale on Saturday afternoon against Livermore.
The momentum of dramatic finishes carried into Friday, as the Varsity Boys Basketball team trailed for virtually the entire game only to battle to a 49-49 tie at the end of regulation en route to a 60-57 overtime win at Monte Vista in front of a raucous crowd. Courtney Anderson Jr. gave Dublin the lead for good by knocking down a three-pointer 15 seconds into the extra frame. Mekhi Thomas followed shortly thereafter with a lay-up and Donovan Cooks hit a three-pointer as Dublin raced out to a 57-49 lead. T.J. Costello added 2 free throws and Cooks made his final shot at the foul line to preserve the lead and the victory.
Dublin’s win over Monte Vista was its second consecutive road overtime win last week, with the first one coming by virtue of a 16-point 4th quarter comeback to defeat Dougherty Valley 74-72. It was also Dublin’s third league road win that came down to the final possession of the game, as the Gaels showed tremendous resiliency on its way to finishing the regular season 15-4 overall and with the best record in the EBAL at 8-1.
Dublin’s successful weekend concluded on Saturday with the Hip Hop team taking 1st place in its Division at the JAMZ State Championships in Bakersfield. Participants on the team included Aahana Kumaran, Amar Burrows, Ankita Kumar, Ayushman Deb, Belita Solanki, Caressa Casasos, Jacqueline Vera, Jayna Mendoza, Jillian Wong, Joanne Kim, Jordan Rivero, Kaitlyn Kwan, Kha-Ai Pham, Khushi Sharma, Olivia Aliotti, Raina Choi
Sydney Friday, Youmei Li, and Yumin Lee.
The success at JAMZ wasn’t limited to Hip Hop, as the Traditional Competition Cheer squad posted a 3rd place finish. Both the Hip Hop and Comp Cheer squads qualified for the National Championships, taking place February 12-13 in Las Vegas.
