After slow start Crushers find their groove to beat Windsor, get first win of season
By Kyle Foster
Twitter: @NapaKyle @NapaSportsNews
The Vintage girls basketball team picked up their first win of the season Monday night by beating Windsor 53-40.
“It feels really good, coming from a really tough loss against Cardinal Newman,” Vintage senior guard/forward Nicole Gleeson said of the win. “So, I think all of us playing well together will lead us to a dub.”
Through the first quarter-and-a-half the Crushers (1-1) had a multitude of turnovers, which kept Windsor (1-1) in the game. But a late 8-0 run gave Vintage a 12-point halftime advantage.
“This time of year we’ve had kind of a rocky start as we all know around this school and around the community with everything and then the air quality, so we haven’t probably practiced super well for the last couple weeks,” Vintage coach Joe Donohoe said as to what was impacting the Crushers early on in the contest. “We’re not in as good of shape as we need to be in, but we did much better tonight than we did Saturday night. So, yeah just it just took us a minute to get going. We passed up some open shots, trying to be unselfish, and our defense usually picks up our offense intensity – and once our defense picked up then the offense go going.”
“I think it was kind of like first home game jitters, and then just everyone being nervous,” Gleeson said of the sloppiness early on in the game. “And then after the half we always come out strong and work together and focus more.”
The Crushers were led by Gleeson and Alyssa Andrews on the night. The combo combined for 34 of Vintage’s 53 points.
Gleeson had 18 points and three rebounds. Most of her points came by way of the fast break.
“I think all of us have this certain intensity that when we run (play) 13 everyone just has like as our coaches say ‘our hair on fire’, so everyone’s anticipating and being in help,” Gleeson explained as to how she scored the majority of her points. “So we all know that we have our teammates behind us if we don’t get the steal.”
The fast break was also a way to not let the Jaguars set up their zone defense.
“Well, the way to beat a zone is to never let them set up in it,” Donohoe emphasized of the importance of fast break points. “So that’s kind of our goal, and that’s the way we want to play anyway. We’ve got a lot of really good athletes that can run and go for a while. So, yeah a great team win.”
Andrews ended the night with a solid 16 points and six rebounds.
Besides the turnovers, the Crushers will also need to rebound a little better as Gleeson points out.
“I think we’re going to focus more on rebounding,” she said. “Obviously that’s kind of a difficulty for us.”
Vintage will be back in action on Wednesday night when they host Pioneer of Woodland. The game will begin at 7 p.m.
