Napa Valley rolls past Contra Costa to pick up first conference win thanks to great half-court defense
By Kyle Foster
Twitter: @NapaKyle @NapaSportsNews
When a team is a slow starter, it can take a while to get going. But once they kick it into gear, a team can be unstoppable.
That was the case on Thursday night when the Napa Valley College women’s basketball team cruised past Contra Costa, 66-45.
The victory couldn’t come soon enough. In fact, you could say that it’s an early Christmas present. The reason for that is due to the fact the Storm (5-9 overall, 1-1 Bay Valley Conference) entered the game mired in a six-game losing streak and off of a brutal 59-58 loss at Solano College on Wednesday.
“I think it was one of the first conference wins in a few years,” Napa Valley College sophomore forward and 2019 Vintage High School graduate Nicole Gleeson said. “So to be a part of that, it’s pretty fun, and we definitely worked for that. So it’s exciting.”
The win is also NVC’s first BVC win in three years.
Napa Valley pulled away in this game in the second quarter where they allowed the Comets to put just six points on the scoreboard.
Part of the reason they were able to do that was due to their half-court trap, which led to a plethora of Contra Costa turnovers and easy points on fast breaks.
“We went to a 1-3-1 defense, and it’s a tricky defense,” Napa Valley College head coach Paul DeBolt said as what changed defensively to change the game. “We play it in an interesting way. It’s (assistant coach) Zack Cook’s defense, and Zack does a great job with it. It slowed them down. It took them out of their offensive rhythm.”
Another thing that helped in this one was that Napa Valley had four scorers in double figures for the game.
“That was nice, and it is kind of how we are,” DeBolt said of the even scoring. “But our defense spurred our offense tonight again, and we’re still kind of in a shooting slump. And we’ll break out of it.”
Nicole Gleeson finished the night with 14 points, eight rebounds, and a block. She converted 2 of her 4 free throws as well. Gleeson also was the beneficiary of the aggressive half-court trap because she was able to get the majority of her points on fast-break layups.
“When we played three, that’s kind of what I did in high school,” Gleeson explained. “So I’m really used to that. It’s nice to get the ball out early, and that’s usually where I got my points. So once I start doing that, I start to get back in my old ways, which I like.”
Also finishing with 14 points was Amaree Bennett. The freshman guard scored her first 8 points from the free-throw line.
“Amaree made great decisions in the half-court,” DeBolt pointed out. “ She decided she was going to get to the basket, and she might have just made one two-point field goal, but she got to the free-throw line. She’s our best free-throw shooter.”
Addison Alsbury finished with 11 points and three rebounds. Meanwhile, Maizy Armstrong-Brown finished the game with 10 points, all of which came in the first half. She also grabbed two rebounds and blocked a shot.
It will be a while until Napa Valley has their next game. On January 4th, they’ll head to Pittsburg to face Los Medanos at 5:30 pm. The Storm will have to wait even longer to play on their home court again. Their next home game will be on January 8th at 1 pm when they host Laney of Oakland.
