Braves jump out to big lead early, cruise past Terra Linda for first win of season
By Kyle Foster
Twitter: @NapaKyle @NapaSportsNews
So we meet again. On Tuesday night the Justin-Siena girls basketball team played a team they used to play twice a year in Terra Linda-San Rafael, and they came away with their first win of season by a score of 50-23.
It was the Braves (1-1) first win of the season.
“The first win is also the toughest,” Justin-Siena coach Andrew bettencourt happily said afterwards. “So, getting our first win tonight is a big deal for us, and (I’m) very happy with the result.”
Justin-Siena leaped out to an astounding 21-0 lead through the first quarter and a half, which was partly due to the Trojans not making their shots. However, the Braves were also playing good defense.
“Honestly, I thought we came with much better defensive intensity tonight than we did in our first game,” Bettencourt emphasized. “Our kids played really hard. Obviously Terra Linda missed some shots that they probably usually make, that always contributes to it too. But I thought our defensive focus and intensity from the beginning were great.”
Throughout the game, but especially in the first half Justin-Siena had a plethora of turnovers.
“I don’t know do you know,” Bettencourt joked. “Ashlee actually said it when she came out for the last time. We were talking on the bench and she said ‘coach, we just played a little frantic.’ And I think that’s the right word – I think we were a little frantic tonight. We tried to do things a little too quick or we made a mistake and tried to solve it by going faster, and that doesn’t work in basketball. So, we’ll need to work on slowing down and making the right play a little slower than trying to make the next play quickly.”
The Braves were lead by senior guard Ashlee Whittemore on the night. She had 19 points, nine of which came to start the game. She also grabbed four rebounds.
“She’s the defending Napa County player of the year for a reason,” Bettencourt said of his senior guards big night. “Ashlee’s a great player. She does so much for our team, but I think the thing that speaks the most about her is that we voted for captains today and the things her teammates said about her was that she was a leader both on and off the court were incredible. And I think that’s the thing that’s what’s great about her as a senior right now is she’s not only playing the way that she has for a couple years now, she’s leading, and we’re just thrilled to have her.”
Karlie Wells was also an important contributor as she brought in five rebounds all while adding six points.
“Karlie’s a really good rebounder, she’s aggressive to the ball, and I think she’s a lot more athletic than people think she is,” Bettencourt explained of the importance of Wells. “And she’s tough, I wouldn’t want to be rebounding against her.”
Following their matchup on Thursday at St. Vincent de Paul-Petaluma they’ll face another former Marin County Athletic League team when they travel to Mill Valley to face Tamalpais on Saturday.
