Strong effort on glass leads Justin-Siena past Napa
By Kyle Foster, photo courtesy of Don Lex (LuckDuckImages.com)
Twitter: @NapaKyle @NapaSportsNews
Rebounding is a key aspect in the game of basketball. This means that the team that brings in the most rebound is going to have a better shot to win the game.
That was what the Justin-Siena girls’ basketball team did really well on Saturday night when they beat Napa 43-24.
Justin-Siena (12-8 overall, 5-2 Vine Valley Athletic League) also was able to win the game thanks to winning the rebounding battle quite handily. The Braves outrebounded Napa (1-20, 0-7 VVAL) in this one 38-26, which proved to be key.
“I thought they got too many offensive rebounds against us. That’s something I feel like we need to clean up,” Justin-Siena head coach Andy Bettencourt pointed out. “We did a good job. I thought we did a good job rebounding, especially on the offensive end, and in transition, we were able to get some run-outs and get some easy layups, which is nice.”
Napa High head coach Taylor Willis also thought rebounding had a major impact on the outcome of the game.
“I think a lot of their points came off of mixed box-outs on our part,” she explained. “So they had like second or third chance points, and then transition points, they did a pretty good job of when we’ve missed, they get the rebound, and they throw it up or off of our turnovers. So I think a lot of their points came off that.”
Another reason Justin-Siena was able to get the victory was the fact that they got a double-double effort from Charmaine Griffin. The senior finished with a game-high 12 points and also brought in 13 rebounds. She scored the majority of her points in the first half where she scored 8 points.
“Before the game, my coach told me to just attack, and I think it’s a big kind of mental block,” Griffin said of her double-double effort. “For a while, I spent a lot of time thinking that my only job was to take outside shots, but I’m slowly kind of getting into the groove of attacking and being an aggressive rebounder.”
Justin-Siena also got one of their top players going again in this game. Isabella Wright finished as the team’s only other player in double digits with 11 points while also corralling 5 rebounds. Wright also knocked down a shot from three-point range as well.
Cassie Richardson finished the game with 8 points and 4 rebounds. Mary Heun scored 3 points and 3 rebounds. Jordan Washington scored 2 points and brought down an astounding 13 rebounds. Bella Balmaceda also scored 2 points and also had 2 rebounds, and Hannah Spare scored 2 points and grabbed a rebound.
This has been a major week for the Braves to win VVAL play, as they defeated three local rivals to vault up to the second spot in the league standings.
“It’s great. It’s why we love this league,” Bettencourt said of the three-win week. “Obviously, to come out victorious in all three is great. Those are three good teams and we’re happy to have been victorious and all three.”
Although the score may not reflect it, Napa was able to stay in this one for quite a while. A major reason for this was the use of their 2-3 zone.
“They did fight. I thought our two-three defense looked really good,” Willis said. “I thought we got some good looks off of that. I think we also ran our offense tonight a little bit better, and we were actually being a little bit more aggressive as far as offense goes. Not all of them went in. But I think that’s what kept us in at least early in the game.”
Leading Napa in the game was Sofia Tinnon. The senior finished with a team-high 7 points, 3 rebounds, and also had 2 blocked shots. Tinnon also went 3 of 4 from the line.
On the glass, the Grizzlies were led by Nadia Ali-Musa. The senior scored 2 points and brought in a team-leading 11 rebounds.
“I think Nadia works really hard and we’ve been harping on her the last couple days to be a little stronger with the ball, and I guess it paid off tonight,” Willis said of Ali-Musa’s good night working the glass.
Olivia Varvicka added 5 points and 3 rebounds. Julie Ramirez and Joy Bradbury each scored 2 points and grabbed 2 rebounds. Chloe Dinsdale also scored 2 points and Isabella Jasso-Nelson made one free throw and corralled a rebound.
League play will continue for both teams next week. On Tuesday, Justin-Siena will visit Petaluma at 7 pm. On Wednesday, Napa will host American Canyon.
In other VVAL action on Saturday night, Vintage beat Petaluma 47-34, and Casa Grande beat American Canyon 56-40. You can view the updated league standings here.
