Vintage loses heart breaker to Sonoma Valley
By Kyle Foster
Twitter: @NapaKyle @NapaSportsNews
They were so close, yet so far.
The Vintage boys basketball team had a chance to win the game in the final seconds, but the final shot of the game hit the front of the rim giving them a tough 52-51 loss to visiting Sonoma Valley.
According to Vintage coach Rob Johnson it was the little things that ruined their chances of getting a victory.
“(If) you lose by one point, it was a lot of the little things that happened,” he explained. “Again, rebounding with a couple seconds left, we should’ve controlled that possession. A lot of missed layups in the first half, so I thought we put out the effort to go and attack, it just wasn’t falling for us at that point in time.”
Things looked good early in the contest when the Crushers (6-11 overall, 1-4 Vine Valley Athletic League) started the game on a 6-0 run.
“We were definitely ready for that, but like I said it just came down to the little things that got us in the end,” Johnson added. “And little things add up to big things, especially when you come down to crunch time. That’s where you finish them off at.”
It was a night where Vintage was led by Blake Murray who had 14 points and four rebounds, two of which came on a snazzy two-handed slam on a fast break.
“It felt great,” Murray said of his two-hand slam. “It got us some momentum, and I feel like it got us a little bit of a change in the game.”
“He had three of them (dunk attempts, but he got on through,” Johnson said of Murray. “But he always goes with a lot of energy towards the basket, so we just tell him to keep going, keep going, keep going because you can’t bottle him up like that you’ve got toward the rim.”
Hunter Gutierrez added 13 points and three rebounds as well.
“Hunter did a great job tonight,” Johnson said of the solid night from Gutierrez. “I’m happy to see him find his groove and his scoring ability. He’s capable of a lot more, so it was good that he was able to go ahead and use that in time. It was great.”
Lately it seems as though the Crushers have been a snake-bitten team as all the breaks aren’t going their way, but Johnson thinks the tide will eventually turn for his team.
“I definitely do,” Johnson said of the luck not going in their favor. “With us it’s just redirecting what we’re doing.”
Up next for Vintage is a matchup with Justin-Siena at home at 7 p.m on Wednesday night. Meanwhile, Sonoma will host American Canyon on Monday night at 7 p.m.
