Defensive breakdowns comeback to haunt Napa in loss to Petaluma in season finale
By Kyle Foster
Twitter: @NapaKyle @NapaSportsNews
Making free throws and not allowing layups are key to winning basketball games.
Unfortunately, those two things were what ended up biting the Napa High girls basketball team in their 54-38 loss to Petaluma on Tuesday night.
The game was close in the first quarter before Petaluma (17-7 overall, 7-4 Vine Valley Athletic League) pushed their lead to double-digits due in large part to the plethora of layups they were able to get against the Grizzlies press.
“There’s just a breakdown on defense,” Napa coach Taylor Willis said. “I think not communicating, not knowing who we have, the things that we worked on all season and their whole lives playing basketball just seemed to (escape).”
However, Napa (12-14, 6-6 VVAL) also didn’t help themselves by making 13 of their 29 attempts from the free-throw line.
“Free throws have been an issue the whole season,” Willis continued. “So as a coach that tells me that something needs to be done. I’m going to rework what I do in the summer and we’ll be shooting a lot of free throws and will be the best free throw team next year. That’s what it has to be.”
On the night, the Grizzlies were led by Anna Ghisletta. In her final game at Napa High, she scored 13 points, eight of which came in the second half to go along with five rebounds.
“I’m glad she had a great game,” Willis said of the four-year varsity player. “She always goes hard. She played the whole entire game through fatigue. I’m so proud of her. I’ve known her since she was a freshman.”
Also doing well in her final high school basketball game was Charlotte Gerard who had eight points and five rebounds on the night.
“When she’s aggressive and she’s ready to go, she does amazing things,” Willis added. “So, I’m happy she got that in her last game.”
The leading rebounder on the night for Napa was Devan Wickersham who brought in seven boards and added seven points as well in her final basketball game.
We 💙💛 our seniors! Congrats on representing, leading and competing with victory and honor. Thank you to our @napagrizzlies families for the years of support. #wearenapa @nhsgirls_basketball pic.twitter.com/37i4ycFEdX
— Napa Grizzlies (@Napa_Grizzlies) February 12, 2020
Besides those three seniors, it was also the final game for Maddison Shipp, Rosie Scaduto, Cali Olmstead, and Hannah Newman. They were all honored in a pregame ceremony.
“I told them ‘I know how much it hurts especially to lose your last game and most people lose their last game’,” Willis explained.
The game also marked the end of Willis’s first-year in charge of the program after taking over for Darci Ward last spring.
“When you take over for a coach that’s been here for a very long time and a very successful coach, there’s going to be some things that are different,” Willis said. “Even though I came from that coach, I wanted to make my own stamp and it’s going to take time. It’s going to take time to get everyone to buy in and everyone to fully be into it.”
League play will continue on Thursday night at 7 p.m. when Petaluma hosts Justin-Siena. In the last meeting on January 23rd, Justin-Siena beat Petaluma 47-44. It will be both teams’ regular-season finales.
In other league games Tuesday night, Casa Grande-Petaluma beat Justin-Siena 51-26 and Sonoma Valley beat American Canyon 50-38. The league standings can be viewed here.
