American Canyon pulls away in third quarter to beat Vintage in VVAL opener
By Kyle Foster
Twitter: @NapaKyle @NapaSportsNews
When you get held to two baskets in a quarter, that isn’t a good recipe to get a win.
That was what happened to the Vintage girls’ basketball team on Monday night when they lost their Vine Valley Athletic League opener 53-38 to American Canyon.
In the third frame, the Wolves (11-4 overall, 1-0 VVAL) held the Crushers (7-7, 0-1 VVAL) to just two points, which helped them extend their edge to 16.
It was something that American Canyon head coach Angela Davis was very pleased with.
“Well, one of the things that we talked about as a program on our JV level and our varsity level is that there are going to be nights where we can score the basket,” she explained. “But if we can’t stop anyone, then that can be the difference between us winning a game and losing the game. So it’s great seeing the scoreboard go up, but can you hold a team when you need to hold them? And so we’ve really been working defensively on closing out having long hands, you know, utilizing our length to take away passing lanes.”
It also helped that the Wolves were able to knock down some shots from three-point range as well. In the contest, they made just five shots from three-point land. The big thing is that it was the difference in the game.
“We’ve had a couple of games where our shots haven’t been falling, and it has hurt us,” Davis added. “I think one of the things that we’ve learned in our preseason is that when our shots not falling, how to be able to drive and be able to still get to the basket.”
Meanwhile, Vintage head coach Joe Donohoe gave credit to the Wolves for their three-point shooting.
“Well, I’m sure they had at least four players make three-pointers,” he explained. “So you can’t isolate one of them. Three’s (Billingsley) is a really good player. We’ve known that the whole time we’ve been playing against her. I felt like the adjustments we made were pretty good. But she has had a good night, and I’m going to give them all the credit. ”
Leading American Canyon on the night was Destiny Evans. The senior finished with a game-high 25 points. She did more damage in the second half where she scored 13 points. She also converted 5 of her 8 free throws in the game.
“She’s getting much better at being able to finish at the basket, working on her footwork working on her touch against the backboard has really kind of started to blossom,” Davis said of the senior big. “Most of the time when she’s missing, it’s just because she’s rushing or she’s trying to move too quickly. But as long as she can slow herself down, position herself, not take extra dribbles, bring the ball low, she could probably do that.”
Also adding to the cause was Trinity Billingsley. The senior guard finished with 12 points, seven of which came in the second half. She also made one three-pointer and made 3 of 5 shots from the charity stripe.
As for Vintage, they were led by Olivia Hedberg. The senior finished with a team-high 12 points and brought in 4 rebounds. She also went 2-for-4 at the line.
Kate Kerr and Lizzie Qui finished the game with 8 points. Qui brought in 6 rebounds and Kerr corralled 4. Qui also made both of her shots from the foul line.
Rachel Galvin scored 3 points and brought in 10 rebounds. Sophie Lerner finished with 2 points and a rebound. Eden Wood scored 2 points and brought in 6 rebounds.
Both teams will continue league play this week when they visit Justin-Siena. On Wednesday at 7 pm, American Canyon will visit the Braves. Meanwhile, Vintage will travel across Trower to face the Braves on Friday night at 7 pm.
