Castro’s clutch free-throws lead Vintage past Napa and to league title
By Kyle Foster
Twitter: @NapaKyle @NapaSportsNews
Crosstown rivalry games have a knack for creating awesome, yet gutwrenching moments.
So, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Friday’s second Big Game boys’ basketball game of the season did that exact thing.
With the game all tied at 47, Napa intentionally fouled Vintage center Loren Castro to make him shoot two free throws with 13.2 left in the game. That strategy was one that backfired on Napa as Castro drained both of his double-bonus free throws after missing his first two free throws on the night to give Vintage a 49-47 victory.
“I wasn’t ready for it,” Castro explained. “But I mean, it is smart. I just missed two free-throws.”
“He was struggling from the line, so we wanted to foul him,” Napa coach Zack Cook said. “ Maybe he makes one maybe he misses both and we have 15 seconds left rather than them inbounding and isolating Imani (Lopez), running the clock down, and then him going to the basket and running into somebody and getting a foul call.”
With the win, Vintage (16-9 overall, 9-2 Vine Valley Athletic League) clinches at the league title. They own the tiebreaker over Petaluma, which is points scored head-to-head. In the first game, Petaluma beat Vintage 46-31, but just last Saturday Vintage beat Petaluma 49-26 to give them a total of 72 points allowed against Petaluma’s 80. It’s also the third boys’ basketball league title in school history.
However, the Crushers were forced to battle back from an early first-half deficit, which is something they’ve done numerous times this season. Napa (7-18, 3-8 VVAL) held a nine-point edge early on in the first half.
“We talked about it at halftime,” Cook explained. “I knew that they had been down, I think their last two or three games at the half. I said ‘they’re going to be confident coming out the second half.’ They’re in first place, so we knew they were going to come out and make it a game.”
Vintage was led by Imani Lopez. The senior ended the night with game-highs 29 points, 19 of which came in the second half, and 12 rebounds. This is the second game this week he’s scored 20 points or more, as he scored 24 in Wednesday’s win.
“He played great,” Cook added. “He played great, he’s a really good player.”
The next highest scorer for the Crushers on the night was Logan Nothmann who ended the night with seven points and three rebounds.
Castro brought in ten rebounds on the night and scored six points. Also, Josh McCormick brought in nine boards and added five points.
Meanwhile, Napa was led by Brayden Greenlee. He had a team-high 21 points on the night and five rebounds.
“He played great, he was very efficient shooting tonight,” Cook said of the junior guard. “I think 8-of-15, which is great for him. He gave up the ball when they’re doubling him and then got it back and he didn’t force too much.”
Tyler Oda added 12 points to the cause as well.
Leading the Grizzlies rebounding effort was Spencer Gorman who brought in eight boards and scored seven points on the night.
Both teams will have the regular-season finales next week. On Wednesday night at 7 p.m., Napa will host Petaluma in what will be their Senior Night. Meanwhile, Vintage will have their league bye on Tuesday night before visiting American Canyon on Friday night at 7 p.m.
In the previous meetings, Petaluma edged Napa, 70-67, in an overtime battle on January 22nd and American Canyon beat Vintage 60-56 on January 24th.
Other VVAL games on Friday night saw American Canyon beat Petaluma 59-56 and Sonoma Valley beat Justin-Siena 62-53. To view the full up-to-date league standings, go here.
