Vintage keeps game tight, but Napa ultimately pulls away to take first Big Game
By Kyle Foster
Twitter: @NapaKyle @NapaSportsNews
Over last few years the Napa and Vintage boys basketball teams have each won on each others home court in Big Game.
That trend changed on Wednesday when Napa beat Vintage on their home court, 64-56.
“It always feels really nice to beat Vintage, our crosstown rival,” Napa coach Zack Cook explained. “All our players know their players, they’ve grown up together, played sports, so it’s a really fun rivalry. So, it feels good.”
“We came in here knowing it would be a fight just because it was Big Game,” Napa sophomore post player Brock Bowers said. “It can go either way with crowd and stuff, so we didn’t really know what was going to happen.”
But the game saw the Crushers (6-10 overall, 1-3 Vine Valley Athletic League) keep the game close, and even hold the lead for a brief time in the first quarter.
“I’m proud of my guys, I’m always proud of my guys,” Vintage coach Rob Johnson said afterwards. “Obviously it’s not the outcome we wanted. I knew it was going to be a high energy game, you know, Big Game I don’t ever have to worry about the energy being there. So, it just just came down to little mistakes and (it) just adding up to big things, and then Napa hit some big shots, and that was it.”
It was a game where the Grizzlies (11-5, 2-0 VVAL) got good contributions from their underclassmen as Brock Bowers had 13 points and 12 rebounds, while Brayden Greenlee had eight points. Freshman guard Tyler Oda hit two key free throws to push Napa to the victory.
It’s something that Cook was happy about.
“That was awesome,” he said of Greenlee’s eight-point third quarter. “That really pushed us over the top. He’s really been in a real slump for three or four games, and it’s nice to see him break out of that slump and in such a big game.”
It also helped that seniors Stephen Blume and Zach Swim also had good nights scoring.
Blume had 14 points and a rebound, while Swim had 13 points and 11 rebounds.
Vintage was led by Grant Polk who had 17 points and six rebounds. Blake Murray added 14 points, two of which came on a ferocious dunk in the second half. He also had four rebounds on the night.
“Grant’s always a key for us,” Johnson said of Polk. “He stays low and he attacks, he’s a big kid, and he takes his time. So, whenever he’s available I’m yelling ‘throw it in there, throw it in there’, and like I said you’ve got to constantly remind them.”
Both teams will continue VVAL play on Friday night at 7 p.m. The Grizzlies will head South on Highway 29 for a meeting with American Canyon, while Vintage will host Sonoma Valley.
