Casa Grande pulls away in second half to beat Justin-Siena on Senior night
By Kyle Foster
Twitter: @NapaKyle @NapaSportsNews
With the race to make the Vine Valley Athletic League postseason tournament heating up the Justin-Siena girls basketball team met Casa Grande in what was a crucial game.
However, it was also Senior night where the program celebrated their five seniors that consisted of Ashlee Whittemore, Kiran Monteverdi, Gracie Walter, Ella Thatcher, and Mikhaela Cepeda.
It was a game the Braves lost 50-40.In the first half Justin-Siena (13-12 overall, 5-6 VVAL) went into the half up by five points, due in large part to good defense and good shooting.
“I thought we played with a lot of energy in the first half,” Justin-Siena coach Andy Bettencourt said. “I thought that we made some shots obviously, which really helped and we did a good job taking care of the ball.”
But in the third quarter Casa Grande (14-9, 9-2 VVAL) held the Braves to only two points in the quarter. Overall, it just wasn’t a good second half for Justin-Siena, as Bettencourt explained.
“It wasn’t surprising. They’re a good team and they started making shots,” the coach said. “We didn’t do as good of a job defensively, but also I thought a lot of our turnovers led to opportunities for them. So, we didn’t have our best half in the second half, and unfortunately it coincided with them making a lot of shots.”
It also didn’t help that the Braves had a hard time bringing in rebounds all night long.
“That was a problem the whole game and frankly for us the whole season,” Bettencourt explained. “Unfortunately, we’ve given up a lot of defensive rebounds and that hurts us.”
On the evening the Braves were led by Whittemore who had 24 points and five rebounds. Karlie Wells led Justin-Siena in their efforts rebounding as she brought in seven of them, while adding two points.
Both teams will conclude the regular season on Monday night. Casa Grande will host Napa at 7 p.m., while Justin-Siena will visit Vintage at 8 p.m.
On January 15th Vintage beat Justin-Siena 33-18, while Casa Grande beat Napa 42-31.
By virtue of Sonoma Valley’s 43-41 victory over American Canyon, the Braves clinched a spot in the VVAL tournament next week. However, if they finish fourth in the VVAL they would face Vintage in back-to-back games over a period of three days. The same would also go for Casa Grande and Napa as they currently sit second and third in the league standings.
