Sonoma Valley’s double-digit third quarter edge too much for Napa to comeback from in league-opener
By Kyle Foster
Twitter: @NapaKyle @NapaSportsNews
All good things must come to an end at some point.
Last season, the Napa boys basketball team was able to complete an undefeated league season to go along with two wins in the Vine Valley Athletic League season.
However, in Friday night’s league-opener Napa’s 14-game winning streak came to an end when they lost to Sonoma Valley 60-56.
The game was neck-and-neck throughout but in the third quarter, Sonoma Valley (7-6 overall, 1-0 VVAL) grabbed a 14-point advantage, which was too much for the Grizzlies (4-11, 0-1 VVAL) to overcome.
“We just had a scoring drought and that puts a lot of pressure on our defense,” Napa coach Zack Cook explained. “And while we were in a scoring drought, they got hot and scored a couple of buckets and open it up and it was just too much of a hole to dig out of.”
Yet, the fourth quarter Napa was able to flip the script and tie the game at 50 with a little less than three minutes to go in the contest.
The other reason the Grizzlies were able to get back into the game was the play of their two guards.
Brayden Greenlee and Tyler Oda both ended the night with 20 points. However, Greenlee brought in four rebounds to Oda’s one.
“They’ve been scoring all year for us,” Cook said of his two guards. “We just got to get a third scorer and that’ll be different each game. But, if we can find a third scorer to help us with the offense, along with those two guys, that’ll just help make things easier on offense.”
Leading the way on the boards was Spencer Gorman. The junior brought in nine of them, all while scoring two points.
“He’s been probably our most consistent rebounder, so that’s nothing new,” Cook added. “He’s been doing that all year. He’s just still adjusting to the speed of the varsity game and he’s got some growing pains, but he’s also been doing some really good things for us.”
Both teams will continue league play next Wednesday night at 7 p.m. Napa will visit Casa Grande-Petaluma, while Sonoma Valley will visit Petaluma.
“I haven’t seen any film on them yet,” Cook said of the upcoming contest. “I know they have a new coach. So it’s a road game, so it’ll be tough.”
On Friday night, Vintage beat Casa Grande 61-53, while Petaluma had the first bye.
