Vintage finds defensive groove in second half to take first Big Game over rival Napa
By Kyle Foster
Twitter: @NapaKyle @NapaSportsNews
The Vintage girls basketball team has been the team in charge over the last few years when they’ve faced rival Napa High in Big Game.
That continued on Tuesday night with their 47-28 victory, but it certainly didn’t come easy.
In the first half Napa hung in the game, which was due in large part to their effort rebounding the ball.
“I think the first half we played really well, and I thought our rebounding was excellent,” Napa coach Darci Ward said. “And, I don’t know if we ran out of gas. Losing Siena (Young) there in the fourth really hurts us. She went out with a little injury. But, I don’t know. I don’t know if it’s a lack of focus. I don’t know, second half they should’ve done a better job, they should’ve been ready. Vintage played very solid and strong and did a good job. I’m very proud of how my girls played. They battled, they fought, and even though we were losing they battled till the absolute end. So, I’m so proud of them for that, but we’ve got technical things that we need to work on.”
The game was closer than the score would appear for most of the game due to the fact that both teams were having issues shooting from the field and at the free-throw line.
However, in the second half it all came together for Vintage (11-5 overall, 4-0 Vine Valley Athletic League).
The biggest factor that led to the second half Crusher turnaround was the menacing 1-3-1 defense.
“Our defense, we turned it up on our defensive end and we just started getting rebounds and outlets and we beat them up the court,” Vintage senior guard Alyssa Andrews explained of what changed in the second half.
The 1-3-1 defense was so good in the second half that Napa (8-8, 0-3 VVAL) only scored nine total points in the second half.
“We couldn’t go against their 1-3-1,” Ward explained. “So, they put in their 1-3-1 defense, and we really struggled to score against it. So, obviously a focus point for us and we just didn’t run our overloads correctly.”
As for Vintage coach Joe Donohoe the second half flipping of the script was more about energy and intensity.
“Obviously, you can see that the energy permeates through our entire game,” he said. “You know Napa’s a great team and they played tough pressure defense.”
Vintage was led by Andrews who had 12 points, nine rebounds, and seven assists. With that stat line she came up just shy of a triple-double, but that doesn’t bother her.
“Nah, I just play,” she said of her big night. “I just play for my team.”
Nicole Gleeson added 10 points, while Kate Ilsley also had nine points and seven rebounds.
The Grizzlies were led by Sienna Young who had six points and six rebounds.
Both teams will be back in action on Thursday night at 7 p.m. Napa will head to Southern Napa County to face fellow Napa Valley Unified School District rival American Canyon, while Vintage will host Sonoma Valley.
