Crushers rely on solid defense to push them past Vacaville
By Kyle Foster, photo courtesy of Anastasia Busby (Vintage High Yearbook)
Twitter: @NapaKyle @NapaSportsNews
There will be games during a long when it just feels like nothing is going right.
Those are also the nights where a team needs to battle to get a win, which is what the Vintage girls basketball team did against Vacaville on Monday night as they won 57-25.
“Well absolutely,” Vintage coach Joe Donohoe said of winning a game where everything didn’t exactly go right. “We kinda preach a grind it mentality. It’s not always going to be cotton candy and slurpees out there. I mean you’ve got to go find a way to win a lot of times, and that’s a good team too. They have good shooters. We scrimmaged them a few weeks ago at Napa High and they shot the ball really well. And that’s what I told them after the first quarter I said ‘they haven’t even gotten their shooters going, if they get that going we’re in big trouble tonight.’ So, I think we gave up five, four, and five the last three quarters for total points, so that’s a good recipe no matter how bad we’re playing on offense.”
In the first half it appeared as though Monday had reared its ugly head as the Crushers (3-1) were lethargic and lacking intensity.
“It was one of those nights early on,” Donohoe explained of the slow start. “It wasn’t a full night of that, but yeah we got the shots we were looking for including the tip-off. We drew it up, got it there, and missed the layup. That’s a tough way to start the game. But we stayed after it, our energy picked up in the times that we needed it.”
But the thing that kept Vintage in the game in the first was their stout defense. The Crushers defense forced two shot clock violations.
Then, in the second half, it happened. Vintage tightened up and flexed their muscles at the visiting Bulldogs (1-3).
“Defense, the intensity of the defense moving their feet and the help and getting on the ground,” Donohoe said of what changed from half to half. “The rebounding got better too, for sure. We’re just trying to get better every night.”
Alyssa Andrews lead Vintage with 16 points and six rebounds on the night. Kate Ilsley and Ellie Savage also added 11 points. Nicole Gleeson pitched in 10 points, five rebounds, and two blocks as well to help the Crushers.
The schedule will be brutal for the Crushers over the next two weeks. On Wednesday they’ll take a trip to Dublin to face a tough Gaels team on Wednesday night. Then, on December 10th they’ll host Alhambra-Martinez, who won 21 games last season.
