Behind sold defensive effort, Vintage hangs on to beat American Canyon in season-opener
By Kyle Foster
Twitter: @NapaKyle @NapaSportsNews
When you’ve had just three days of practice before your season-opener, it’s expected that things can be a little shaky.
However, the defending league champion Vintage basketball team seemed like they never skipped a beat despite not playing in over a year when they beat American Canyon 57-53.
The game started with the Crushers (1-0 overall, 1-0 Vine Valley Athletic League) making a major statement by starting the game on a 9-0 run. The way they were able to gain the early advantage was thanks to the half-court trap.
“We hit them with a huge haymaker to start the game,” Vintage head coach Ben Gongora said. “Kudos to them. They took the hit and they came roaring back.”
The Wolves (0-1, 0-1 VVAL) fought back in the second quarter and carried a one-point advantage with them to halftime. They also began the second half with a 10-3 run.
“(It’s) very typical. Teams get tired,” Gongora said of the second quarter comeback by American Canyon. “Mentally, you get tired, you start making mental mistakes. I think it was three unnecessary travels in four possessions or five possessions by not jump-stopping. But you’re tired. You’re just not thinking about it.”
On the night, Vintage had a very balanced scoring attack. They were led by senior Josh McCormick who had 15 points and brought in three rebounds.
Juniors Cole Capitani and Noah Cockrell finished the evening with ten points. Capitani led the way on the glass by bringing in seven rebounds, with Cockrell bringing down five. Jackson Corely ended the night as the third-highest leading scorer by scrog nine points and adding seven boards.
“It was really great,” Gongora explained. “We had a player, Noah Cockrell. He came and stole a ton of minutes. I had no idea what to expect tonight. I didn’t know who was going to play what. I didn’t know how things were going to go. He came out and stole minutes. He stole minutes, he got greedy.”
Both teams will be back in action again next Tuesday night at 7 pm. Vintage will be at home once again when they face Casa Grande-Petaluma and American Canyon will be back in Napa when they visit Justin-Siena.
In Thursday’s only other league game, Casa Grande beat Sonoma Valley 65-61.
