Effort on glass, clutch plays down the stretch leads Vintage past Napa in Big Game nail-biter
By Kyle Foster
Twitter: @NapaKyle @NapaSportsNews
In a one-point game, every possession is key. But the thing with Big Game is that records don’t matter, and anything can happen.
This was the case on Friday night at Messner Gym when Vintage edged host Napa, 65-64, in a classic.
The Crushers (14-8 overall, 3-5 Vine Valley Athletic League) were able to get the win thanks to winning the rebounding battle. They were able to outrebound their rivals by a razor-thin 30-27 margin.
Napa High head coach Joel Garcia thought rebounding played a major role in the outcome, especially in the second quarter where Vintage grabbed a few more offensive rebounds.
“Rebounds early in the game, I think it was the second quarter where they shot a three and they got the rebound, and they were able to get an and-one situation,” Garcia explained. “So just executing on the boards was a big factor in this game.”
It also helped that two of their key seniors were clutch when they needed it most.
With just 7.6 seconds left in the game, Ben Jackson was fouled and went to the line for two free throws since the Crushers were in the double bonus. He made both free throws and then made the game-sealing defensive stop to secure the victory. Jackson would finish as his team’s second-highest scorer with 10 points and also brought in 2 rebounds.
“I’m so happy. As a coach, that’s all I want from my kids,” Vintage head coach Ben Gongora said. “I want to put them in those situations so they can learn about themselves.”
When Jackson went to the line, fellow senior Jackson Corley knew his fellow senior was going to knock down both shots.
“Ben’s a fighter, and I love Ben to death,” he said. “He’s going through a little bit with his ankle right now, but he kept his head in it. He fought through and I knew he was making those free throws the second he stepped up to the line, and I have some much faith in him, and I love that guy to death.”
Corley went crazy in this one finishing with a game-high 34 points and also grabbing 10 rebounds to finish with a double-double. He scored 19 of his points in the first half and made 8 of 11 free throws as well.
“I haven’t had a lot of these games, so having the crowd chant my name, having the other crowd say stuff to me, it just powered me up,” Corley said as to what led to his impressive performance. “It just pushed me to that extra level.”
Anthony Notaro (8 points, 3 rebounds), Bryce Powers (7 points, 2 rebounds), Erik Kvidahl (4 points, 9 rebounds), and Elias Alvarez (2 points, 1 rebound) rounded out the scoring for Vintage.
This game was the best game the Grizzlies (2-20, 0-9 VVAL) have played a year. They gained the lead at the buzzer of the first half when Tyler Oda nailed a three-pointer to give his team a 33-31 edge. It would take until the 2:23 mark of the fourth quarter for Vintage to gain the lead after Powers knocked down a pair of free throws.
Napa was led by Oda who had a team-high 21 points and also brought down 4 rebounds. Oda also made 1 of his 2 free throws. Miles MacPherson finished with 17 points, 12 of which came in the first half, and a rebound. Dylan Newman finished with a double-double scoring 13 points and bringing in a game-high 14 rebounds.
Jayden Quintana (5 points, 1 rebound), Andrew Remboldt (4 points, 4 rebounds), Nico Franco (2 points, 1 rebound), and Elliot Zuidema (2 points) rounded out the scoring for Napa.
Both teams will meet again next Tuesday night at Vintage at 7 pm. Before that, Vintage will visit Petaluma on Monday night at 7 pm. This was the lone VVAL boys’ basketball game on Friday night as well. The updated league standings can be viewed here.
