Napa makes a few more shots, prevails in defensive slugfest against Justin-Siena
By Kyle Foster
Twitter: @NapaKyle @NapaSportsNews
There are some nights in basketball where points are at a real premium.
But, it’s also nice when you can avenge a loss from earlier in the league season as well.
That’s exactly what happened during Monday night’s contest that saw Napa defeat Justin-Siena, 39-33. It’s revenge for Napa after they dropped an overtime thriller on January 10th.
“It feels great,” Napa junior guard Brayden Greenlee said. “It was obviously a low scoring game. So, our defensive intensity was a lot better than our first matchup.”
The game was a defensive battle all night long where both teams had a hard time gaining their rhythm on offense.
“I think tonight we just made a couple more plays down the stretch than they did,” Napa coach Zack Cook explained. “They played great. They defend better than anyone in our league and we knew it would be a grinder and a slugfest and we were able to just get a couple more baskets late and hang on.”
“We couldn’t score,” Justin-Siena coach Dave Granucci added. “But our guys battled. I mean that that was the difference. We just couldn’t score, we couldn’t make some shots. Some of those that we usually finish around the rim we just couldn’t finish. We got some clean looks at times that just didn’t go in.”
The win also gives Napa (7-16 overall, 3-6 Vine Valley Athletic League) their first winning streak in league play. It’s the second time they’ve won back-to-back games all year.
“Despite our record, we have a great locker room,” Cook added. “And what I mean by that is our kids are positive, they’re having fun, they’re working hard despite not getting the results that we want all the time. So, that’s probably the best part of the season is our locker room and our team just enjoys being around each other.”
The Grizzlies were led by Greenlee who ended the night with 11 points and three rebounds.
“I was just trying to find my stroke there on arguably the best defensive team in this league, if not the best defensive team,” Greenlee explained. “So, that’s probably the hardest I’ve had to work for 11 points. It didn’t come easy tonight.”
“Brayden struggled a little bit they had a good game plan against him,” Cook said. “We’ll take scoring from whoever we can get it from.”
Danny Ruiz also added ten points and four rebounds as well.
“Danny’s been giving us six to ten (points) all year,” Cook pointed out. “So when we can get something from him and then we have Tyler and Braden playing well, you know, we have a lot better chance of winning.”
Tyler Oda and Spencer Gorman brought in a team-high six rebounds on the night as well. Oda ended the night with five points while Gorman had four.
The Braves (9-14, 2-7 VVAL) were led by freshman forward Vince Jackson who had 11 points and a game-high 10 rebounds to end the night with a double-double.
It was also Senior Night for Justin-Siena, which meant it was the final home game for senior guard Liam McDevitt.
“I’m really proud of how far he’s come in the last year-and-a-half, two years, the time I’ve had him,” Granucci said. “He works extremely hard, he gives everything to this program, he really does. He’s been great to coach. We definitely wanted to send him out the right way.”
Both teams will continue with league play later this week. Napa will visit American Canyon on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. As for Justin-Siena, they’ll have their final league bye on Wednesday before visiting Sonoma Valley on Friday night at 7 p.m.
In the previous meetings, American Canyon beat Napa 87-71 and Sonoma Valley beat Justin-Siena 43-37.
Since this game was originally scheduled for Saturday night, there were no other VVAL games on the night. But on Saturday, Vintage beat Petaluma 49-26 and American Canyon beat Casa Grande-Petaluma 70-62. The up-to-date VVAL standings can be found here.
