Santa Rosa’s great shooting night and intense defense dooms Napa in season-opener
By Kyle Foster
Twitter: @NapaKyle @NapaSportsNews
When a team is making every shot they take, there’s not much you can do.
That’s exactly what happened when Santa Rosa rolled past Napa, 75-43, in the season-opener for both teams on Thursday night at Messner Gym.
The Panthers (1-0) jumped out to an early 12-0 lead until Napa (0-1) scored their first points with 4 minutes left in the first quarter.
“What I saw on my team was we took a half to get sparked up,” said second-year Napa High head coach Joel Garcia. “We took a half to spark up, and sometimes that’s what happens, and it was the first game and we don’t want to repeat this. But I mean, I thought we played great in the second half. We were able to outrebound the team. We did a lot better boxing out.”
To make matters even worse, Santa Rosa only hit five three-pointers in the first half.
“First half, the guys, they lacked a little communication,” Garcia explained. “But then, they brought it in the second half, and they were able to grab themselves together and put themselves in account themselves to each other. The second half was the goal and we were able to get there.”
Another reason the Grizzlies had such a rough half in their opening contest was due to the 14 turnovers that came in the first half.
The Grizzlies were able to come out of the half and play a lot better, which pleased their coach.
“I told them ‘hey, simple things box out simple things,’” Garcia added. “Make sure we take care of the ball. I mean, we had 14 turnovers in the first and then we were able to reduce that number in the second.”
Leading the way for Napa was senior guard Tyler Oda. He finished the night as the only double-digit scorer for the Grizzlies with 11 points. He also went 2-for-2 from the free-throw line.
“Tyler Oda is a trusted guard and varsity member for four years,” Garcia said of Oda’s opening night effort. “I love and believe all of his decisions. We do want him to get his shots up early in the game, and I think he will continue to do so throughout the year.”
Andrew Remboldt led the effort on the glass by bringing in nine rebounds while also adding six points. The senior forward also made 2 of his four shots from the charity stripe.
Dylan Newman was the team’s second-highest rebounder by bringing in eight boards while also scoring two points.
Napa will have a long time until their next game on November 30th when they host California-San Ramon at 7 pm.
