Napa’s slight edge from free-throw line leads them past Justin-Siena
By Kyle Foster
Twitter: @NapaKyle @NapaSportsNews
Over the last few years, whenever Napa and Justin-Siena meet up in girls’ basketball the games are always tight.
Well, Saturday provided yet another entertaining game between the two local rivals when Napa came away with a 39-32 victory.
Although this game wasn’t a great game from the free-throw line for either team, the Grizzlies (12-11 overall, 6-3 Vine Valley Athletic League) converted 6-of-12 shots from the stripe. Meanwhile, Justin-Siena (7-16, 3-6 VVAL) went 6-of-19 from the line.
“Honestly, I think it came down to our free-throw shooting,” Justin-Siena coach Andy Bettencourt emphasized. “I don’t even want to know the numbers, but I know they’re not good. And I thought that really helped keep them ahead. When we did make plays, we didn’t convert on those opportunities. You know, and they were able to make more shots than we did. So, you have to give them credit there.”
However, another thing that helped Napa in this one was their half-court and full-court traps, which got them a few buckets in transition.
“I think we forced a lot of turnovers,” Napa coach Taylor Willis said. “I think we made it hard. We got a couple (of) 30-second violations and that’s what that’s supposed to do.”
“Compared to the last time we played them, I think it was just a completely different way we approached it with our players (and) their calmness towards it,” Bettencourt added.
It also helped that the Grizzlies got senior guard Anna Ghisletta back from injury. She had a team-high 11 points to go along with a rebound.
“She brings so much energy and heart,” Willis explained of Ghisletta. “And she kind of brings the game up to another level and controls the game.”
“Quite frankly, we weren’t sure she was going to play. So that was a big boost for them, obviously, for her to play,” Bettencourt said of Ghiseletta. “It’s hard to quantify in points. I think that just as an overall player, she has such a positive effect on the game.”
Sofia Tinnon added 10 points and a team-high seven-rebound effort to help the cause.
Hannah Newman also added seven points and five rebounds to help the cause.
As for Justin-Siena, they were led by sophomore forward Isabella Wright who had game-highs 13 points and 10 rebounds.
“She’s a strong, strong competitor,” Willis explained. “She rebounds really well. We went over a lot of rebounding yesterday because I knew they were gonna go as hard on the boards. So, she’s a hard contain.”
“Bella’s a good basketball player,” Bettencourt explained. “I think sometimes as coaches, we expect so much out of our best players that we forget to appreciate it. (I) definitely appreciate the way she’s been playing the last few games because she seems to be becoming more consistent, which is good.”
Karlie Wells added eight points and nine rebounds as well.
“It’s so nice to have Karlie back,” Bettencourt said of the senior. “She’s just such a presence inside and when she’s able to score, it’s almost like a bonus because of what all the other things she does. She defends, she rebounds, she sets great screens. I mean she does so many things well, so when she gets eight points, that’s definitely a bonus.”
Both teams will be back in action next week. On Tuesday night at 7 p.m., Napa will visit American Canyon. Meanwhile, Justin-Siena will have their bye on Tuesday night before visiting Sonoma Valley on Thursday at 7 p.m.
In the previous meetings, Napa beat American Canyon 50-39 and Sonoma Valley beat Justin-Siena 32-25.
This was the lone game going on in the afternoon, but other league games on Saturday night include Vintage visiting Petaluma and American Canyon visiting Casa Grande-Petaluma.
