American Canyon makes clutch plays down the stretch to edge Vintage in league-opener
By Kyle Foster, photo courtesy of Don Lex (LuckyDuckImages.com)
Twitter: @NapaKyle @NapaSportsNews
It’s officially the time of year where winning games is the most crucial. They can also be the toughest games since everyone knows everyone so well come league play.
Never before was this sentiment so true than in the lone Vine Valley Athletic League contest on Thursday night when the American Canyon boys basketball team edged Vintage 52-51 in a thriller.
This was a battle all the way through. Neither team was able to get much of an advantage. The Crushers held the largest lead in this one at nine points.
Down the stretch of this one, it came down to execution. This was something that American Canyon (7-5 overall, 1-0 VVAL) did well at the end of the game.
“Came down to calmness under pressure,” American Canyon head coach Scott Hayburn said. “I think our guys executed when it mattered most in the last two or three minutes, and I think that that’s a big lesson moving forward. They played a great basketball game, they executed well, every time I thought we were gonna pull away with it, they made a play. So it’s just a matter of execution and staying calm in those last couple minutes, and kind of expecting to be successful.”
The Wolves also were able to bounce back after the Crushers went on a 9-0 run at the start of the game.
“Nothing changed. We continued to do what we did,” Hayburn said as to how his team responded from the early gut check. “We didn’t panic. We were down nine because we believe that the points they got early came in a certain way – something that didn’t cause me great concern going forward. And then what we were doing offensively, we just hadn’t gotten our shots up yet. So we didn’t change a whole lot. We kind of just stayed consistent.”
Another reason the Wolves were able to win this barnburner was because of the effort they got from Khai Curry. The senior guard finished with a team-high 15 points. He also made on a three-pointer and converted 6 of his 9 free throws.
“I think we did well in a number of areas. I thought we did well, in the rebounding department,” Vintage head coach Ben Gongora said as what he saw from his team. “I think where we had the breakdown was not against American Canyon, but really just against Khai. Khai’s a hell of an athlete and really showed how he is, and we respect him. I’m very impressed with Khai. You know he is an elite player.”
Jordan Nolan finished the game with 13 points as well. He did most of his damage in the second half where he scores 11 points. The senior also made a three-pointer in the game as well.
Meanwhile, there were many things the Crushers (10-4, 0-1 VVAL) could’ve had done a tad bit better to get the win. They had a few missed layups and also left three possible points on the floor due to three missed free throws.
Vintage was led by Ben Jackson who finished the contest with a game-high 17 points and brought in five rebounds. Jackson did most of his damage in the second half where he scored 10 points. The junior forward also went 2 of 3 at the charity stripe.
Also adding to the cause for Vintage was Cole Capitani. The senior center finished the game with a double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds. He was in foul trouble most of the second half, where he scored just four points.
The Wolves made it an effort to slow down Jackson and Capitani coming in.
“We noticed them early,” Curry explained. “We been known him for the past years are great, great basketball players. But you know Coach put me on him and said ‘go stop him.’ So I try my best.”
Jackson Corley finished the game with 8 points and 7 rebounds. Anthony Notaro finished with 7 points and two rebounds. Dido Mitchell finished 3 points, making 1 of 3 shots from the line, and grabbing 4 rebounds. Bryce Powers made a three-pointer, and Lucas Bollinger finished with 2 points and grabbed a rebound.
Both teams will be back in action next Tuesday night at 7 pm to resume VVAl play. Both teams will also be playing in Napa. Vintage will host Casa Grande-Petaluma. As for American Canyon, they’ll play just across the highway when they face Justin-Siena.
