Prep sports: What were the top ten games from the 2018-19 school year?
By Kyle Foster, photo courtesy of Don Lex (LuckyDuckImages.com)
Twitter: @NapaKyle @NapaSportsNews
With the 2018-19 school year coming an end, it’s time to do a wrap-up by counting down the best games of the year.
In this list, we’ll count down the top ten games of the year. In order to be considered for this list the game had to be a VVAL contest or a postseason game, so non-league regular-season games don’t apply. We also take into consideration what the game meant to a team’s season.
However, there was a some games that just missed out on being on our list.
Napa High softball won their playoff opener over Clayton Valley last Tuesday was sure exciting, but the Grizzlies led the whole way except for the top of the first inning. The first American Canyon-Vintage meeting in softball on April 9th was a great game, but it misses out on this list. The Napa-Justin-Siena baseball game on April 24th was good, but it just missed this list as well.
Others that just missed was the first Vintage-Justin-Siena girls basketball game on January 15th that was defensive battle as well. Then again, the Vintage girls basketball team always seemed to be locked in defensive battles like in the league opener against Casa Grande on December 18th. The Napa boys basketball team played two close games with American Canyon, but they ultimately won them going away.
If you’re wondering about a football game that just missed there’s the Acalanes-Vintage game on August 24th, but in that game the Crushers trailed by quite a bit to make a comeback before coming up short, and the game was a non-league regular-season contest. Since we weren’t there we can’t put the inaugural meeting between Napa and Justin-Siena in football, which was won by the Braves 36-32 on October 5th.
Alright, enough with the games that missed. Below is the countdown from 10-1.
10. Big Game baseball 1 – Napa @ Vintage April 3rd, 2019
Just making it into our top ten is the first Big Game baseball of the season that took place at Vintage at the beginning of April.
This game was a great game between the two local rivals. Ultimately though, Napa was able to prevail by a 4-1 score to get their first win of the season.
“This is a mixture of excitement and relief,” Napa coach Jason Chatham said afterwards. “Excitement because it’s Big Game and it means a lot to our kids, and it means a lot to our fans, and it means a lot to our campus, and Big Game lives forever.”
In the game Omar Gonzalez pitched a complete game striking out six while only walking one.
“Omar was phenomenal today, the best I’ve ever seen him,” Chatham added.
To read the full story go here.
9. Big Game softball 2 – Vintage @ Napa April 25th, 2019
Both Napa and Vintage had great years on the softball diamond, but the second Big Game only comes in ar No. 9 on our list.
Napa was able to take the lead in the bottom of the sixth when Jordan Blackmon roped a RBI double to left-center to bring home Cali Olmstead.
The Grizzlies also got two home runs in the game from freshman Caity Newburn.
“I wish I could’ve hit about half as well as she has when I was her age,” Napa coach Walston said. “She doesn’t go out of the zone, she finds a pitch that she can drive, and she just missed another one.”
The win proved to be key towards Napa winning the league title.
The full game story can be viewed here.
8. Napa @ Justin-Siena girls basketball 1 January 3rd, 2019
In the years leading up to the Vine Valley Athletic League these two programs always played each other in the non-league season.
In this game, it was Justin-Siena who prevailed 51-40, but the game was way closer than the score indicated.
The Braves were able to gain a 12-point edge in the second quarter, which proved to be key in the victory.
“We made some shots,” Justin-Siena coach Andrew Bettencourt said of what went right in the second quarter. “I thought defensively we tightened up a little bit, which led to some offense. But overall, I thought we did a good job with moving the ball for the most part and getting ourselves some open shots.”
To view the full story go here.
7. Big Game softball 1 – Napa @ Vintage April 8th, 2019
Both Big Games were great, but the first one just makes it ahead of the second time they met.
Vintage held a 7-6 lead going into the sixth inning, but Napa was able to tallie a run in the sixth and seventh to get the victory.
“We had kind of a slow start, and of course Big Game it always feels good, but coming from behind twice it’s going to be big for these girls,” Napa coach Ron Walston said. “We had a slow start, but it’s starting to come around.”
“A one-run game can go either way,” Vintage coach Robert Poppe said. “It doesn’t matter who you’re playing.”
The highlight of game was a Mo Groves grand slam in the bottom of the first.
“Amazing,” Groves explained of her grand slam. “Honestly, it’s always been my dream to hit a homerun in Big Game, so I was really excited when that happened. It felt unrealistic.”
The full story can be viewed here.
6. Justin-Siena @ Napa girls basketball 2 January 24th, 2019
This game was back-and-forth from the start.
In the end, Napa was able to come away with a 51-45 win over Justin-Siena in what was a key game to get them into the end of season VVAL league tournament.
“I’m so proud of these girls,” Napa coach Darci Ward said. “I think for us to be in a deficit at halftime and to come out and play the way we did at the end, I couldn’t be more proud, honestly. They played with all their heart and soul and I’m really excited.”
Napa’s full-court press was key in getting the victory.
“Yeah, not just the first half it gave us first throughout the game,” Justin-Siena coach Andy Bettencourt said. “That’s because they’re in good spots and they pressure, and they get up and they’re physical and we just at times did not handle it well throughout the game.”
To view the full story go here.
5. Big Game boys basketball 2 – Napa @ Vintage January 28th, 2019
The second Big Game boys basketball of the year was a game where Vintage had their rival Napa on upset alert, which is why it makes it into the top five.
However, Napa was able to come away with a 61-54 win.
“We just said ‘stay the course’,” Napa coach Zack Cook said. “They shot really, really well there in the first quarter. I think they missed once (from the field). And then we said ‘stay the course, keep getting stops, and slowly lets chip our way back into it’. And we were able to do that.”
The win put the Grizzlies on the verge of taking home the league title.
The game story can be viewed right here.
4. American Canyon @ Vintage football October 5th, 2018
The first football game on our countdown was the battle for the league title.
Vintage was able to get the 27-14 win and ultimately win the VVAL title.
The Crushers jumped out a 13-0 lead in the first half, but were unable to pull away.
“Yeah, but hey give them credit they came back and played very tough up front. We were facing a ten man box, and I don’t care, right, it’s like ‘let’s see who we are’ and they played up to a high level and they should be proud for how tough the guys played,” Vintage coach Dylan Leach said. “But yeah you’re right we were physical up front, we were discipline, and we got it done early and it kinda helped us throughout the ball game.
In the fourth quarter American Canyon was able to score two touchdowns, but Villiami Schaumkel rushed for three touchdowns on 21 carries and 108 yard in the contest to help the Crushers to victory.
“Man it feels good because I’m also in there doing the dirty work, but credit all to the line they do all of the dirty work for us hands down,” Schaumkel said of his big night.
To read the full story go here.
3. Justin-Siena @ Vintage girls basketball 2 February 4th, 2019
This regular-season finale sure was fun.
Vintage came away with a 49-46 win to win their second consecutive league title, which had never happened in Crushers girls basketball history.
“Well, if you look over there at the wall there’s never been back-to-back champions,” Vintage coach Joe Donohoe said happily. “There’s only been (19)83 and (19)85 and then 2018 and 2019 now side by side, so I’m very proud. Obviously, we started talking about this goal at the beginning of the summer.”
Justin-Siena missed opportunities to win the game when they weren’t able to secure some key rebounds and make important shots.
“Man, offensive rebounds for them I thought and two late shots for us that I thought were down that didn’t go in,” Justin-Siena coach Andy Bettencourt said of what was the difference in the contest. “But give credit to Vintage, they’re the league champion for a reason. They’re a heck of a team, and they made some plays when they needed to.”
The teams would meet just two days later and the third time overall to begin the Vine Valley Athletic League tournament.
The full story can be viewed here.
2. Vintage @ Antioch playoff football November 9th, 2018
Vintage came into Antioch as the No. 8 seed and stunned the top-seeded Panthers 24-21 in double a overtime classic.
“You know it feels great,” Vintage senior DB/WR/RB/QB Michael Webber said of the huge victory. “I knew we could pull through. We’ve been saying all week that these guys may underestimate us, and we came out as underdogs.”
Going into halftime, the Crushers were only down 7-0. To begin the second half Antioch had a 85-yard kickoff return to go up 14-0.
The Crushers sprang to life in the fourth quarter when they scored two touchdowns to tie it up. Viliami Schaumkel, who rushed for 89 yards on 19 carries, scored Vintage’s two touchdowns in the final quarter to send it to overtime.
“We fight, we’re fighters,” Vintage coach Dylan Leach said afterwards. “This crew knows this is what we do. We knew going in what we were up against, and we got down 14-0 and I told the kids ‘we won’t change a thing, we’re not going to panic, I don’t panic, we’re not going to start running things we don’t run’. I actually reverted back to our power run game and just took it to them the second half.”
Each team scored once in overtime before Vintage got a stop to begin the second overtime and Eddy Gonzalez was able to barely make a 35-yard field goal to give his team the victory.
“I was like ‘squeak, c’mon get over’,” a enthusiastic Leach said of the game-winning kick. “Hey he made it, and like I said to the team right there (postgame huddle) a lot of times that’s all people see and people want to talk about that and I appreciate Eddy and what he did – but let’s be real this game was won in four quarters and overtimes – so he was just a small piece of the puzzle.”
“I was nervous, but I said ‘we’re not going to go home, it’s going to go in, and we’re going to go celebrate tonight’,” Gonzalez said of his crucial kick.
To read that full story go here.
1. Big Game girls basketball 2 – Napa @ Vintage January 26th, 2019
Number one on our list goes to the second girls basketball Big Game. This game just squeaks ahead of Vintage’s double-overtime football game because of the how much Big Game means and what this game meant for both teams.
Vintage was able win a double-overtime thriller, 61-56, over rival Napa to stay atop the Vine Valley Athletic League standings.
“I’m inspired, that’s what I’ll say, that’s what I said,” Vintage coach Joe Donohoe explained. “I’m inspired by that act of human nature that they just put in front of what was there a thousand people in here maybe? I don’t know you tell me whatever this gym holds, it was pretty close. It was inspiring. They would not quit, and that’s what we talked about at halftime. At the end of the game somebody’s going to go home a loser, and it’s going to come down to who’s got more in the tank at the end and it was anybody’s game. I give a ton of credit to Napa High, they came out and fought for every inch all night long. I enjoyed the game, in spite of having to keep track of every second of it coaching wise.”
“I told them ‘I’m more proud of tonight than I’ve been on any other night’,” Napa coach Darci Ward said of her team’s effort in the game. “This was one of the best Napa-Vintage games that I’ve ever coached in, and I’m so proud of them.”
“I would say that’s the best game the two teams have ever played,” Vintage senior guard Alyssa Andrews explained.
It all came down to rebounding as Vintage grabbed 69 boards and Napa got only 36.
Napa was able to catch fire in the second half and go into the game’s final quarter with a seven-point edge.
“We struggled definitely a bit,” Ward explained of her teams rebounding on the night. “We talked about that as rebounds being like the biggest thing. In a close game it does come down to rebounds. They’re a little taller, some of them are a little bigger, but we weren’t in position to box out at time, so that hurt us for sure.”
To read this story go here.
