Second quarter slump dooms Napa in loss to Redwood in Wine Valley tournament finale
By Kyle Foster
Twitter: @NapaKyle @NapaSportsNews
It’s still early on in the season, which means it can take a while for things to come together.
But, when all was said and done Napa finished fourth-place in their own tournament.
It’s something coach Zack Cook was pleased about despite losing 73-52 to Redwood of Larkspur.
“Our last two games we didn’t get the result we want, but we’re not just focused on results,” he explained. “Were focused on our preparation and our process and I think that we played more together all three games of this tournament more together than we did the first two games of the year.”
This game could’ve been much closer if it wasn’t for the second quarter.
“We went into a big slump offensively there in the second quarter and then starting the third quarter,” Cook said. “And while that was happening, they were clicking on offense. And when we were contesting, they were making them and when they were wide open, they were making them and they just played better than us and all phases of the game.”
The Grizzlies (2-3) were led by senior guard Danny Ruiz. On the day, he had 17 points all of which came in the second half and two rebounds.
“I think what happened was we were just getting out in transition,” Ruiz said of his good game. “And I think that’s where accelerate and offensively so that was good for me to get on transition and just get a good flow for the game.”
“Danny got going there at the end. That was nice to see,” Cook added. “We wish we could have gotten some defensive stops while that was happening. We kind of creeped back in there and cut it to 15 or 12 or something while Danny was doing his thing on offense, but we just couldn’t get enough stops.”
Brayden Greenlee added 15 points while bringing in two rebounds to help the offensive effort. Leading the way rebounding for Napa was Spencer Gorman who brought in six of them, all while scoring eight points. Gorman was also coming off of his breakout game on Friday night against Clayton Valley.
Napa will be back in action again on Tuesday night at 7 p.m. when they face California-San Ramon. Last season, Napa beat California 57-52.
“I haven’t seen any film on them yet,” Cook said of Tuesday’s game. “They’re another big East Bay school and playing in probably the best league in Northern California, so I expect them to be really good.”
