Vintage’s big second quarter leads them past Napa to Big Game sweep
By Kyle Foster
Twitter: @NapaKyle @NapaSportsNews
In Big Game, just getting into the groove of the game can mean getting your shots to fall or locking in on the defensive end.
Vintage did both in the second quarter on Tuesday’s final Big Game boys basketball as they beat Napa 57-47.
The Crushers (14-8 overall, 4-5 Vine Valley Athletic League) were able to go into the half with a 15-point edge where they were able to outrebound their rival.
“We just kept going at them and said ‘don’t hold up,’” Capitani said of the second quarter. “We just kept going and pushing them further and further in the second quarter.”
Napa High head coach Joel Garcia said this was the difference in the game.
“A lot of it was just offensive rebounds,” he explained. “I thought we did great on the defensive end. But when we had our big man, Dylan (Newman), trying to alter shots and block shots, we just weren’t able to get those rebounds, and they got quite a few of them in that first half. I think that was the biggest factor.”
Vintage was led by senior guard Jackson Corley who finished with a game-high 18 point, 6 rebound effort.
He scored 11 of his points in the first half and made 2 of 4 free throws.
“I felt like the matchups were good and in position, for me to go get the ball and score when I wanted to,” the senior guard said. “They did make an adjustment and put Tyler (Oda) on me in the second half, and he played some really good defense. But I felt like most of the game I was just able to be comfortable out there and just make plays.”
Just like last Friday’s Big Game, Ben Jackson was again the team’s second-highest scorer. He finished with an 11 point, 6 rebound effort.
“He’s big and Ben’s the type of guy where he could go out and get 30 any night too,” Corley said of his fellow senior. “Just having him out on the court, having another guy that people have to worry about because of how good of a player he is, it’s just so nice to have a guy like that on the court.”
Vintage also got 6-for-7 senor center, Cole Capitani, back, which changed how the offense was run. In his first game back, he scored 5 points, grabbed 6 rebounds, and blocked 2 shots.
“It’s different night and day,” Vintage head coach Ben Gongora said of how the offense looked. “Last game, Jackson (Corley) felt disrespected. The crowd was chanting things. Then, they think ‘oh, we can get them,’ We were missing a huge piece. No one was talking about that we weren’t even complete. So tonight, we’re still not one hundred percent, but they proved where they are when going up against Cole Capitani. But just the presence of having him out there on the court, big, big difference.”
Anthony Notaro (9 points), Noah Cockrell (5 points, 5 rebounds), Erik Kvidahl (2 points, 1 rebound), Bryce Powers (3 points, 2 rebounds), and Elias Alvarez (2 points, 1 rebound) rounded out the Vintage scoring.
With the win, Vintage also secured the Big Game sweep of their rivals.
Napa (2-21, 0-10 VVAL) was able to hold Vintage to just 14 points in the second half, which was good enough to claw back and make it a 10 point game with less than two minutes remaining.
“I’m very proud of the team. We went into the locker room, we had a chip on our shoulder, and after the game, I told them how proud I was keeping Vintage to 14 points,” Garcia added. “I told them if we have that in the first half, that’s the ballgame right there, to have that consistency on defense.”
They were led by Tyler Oda who scored a team-high 17 points and secured 3 rebounds. Dylan Newman finished with a double-double of 14 points, 11 rebounds, and 3 blocked shots. Miles MacPherson also finished in double figures with 12 points and 3 rebounds.
“It’s awesome when those three guys can get going, especially if they’re in double digits,” Garcia said of his team’s scoring leaders. “They’re huge assets to the team. They help everyone out and not only that – they’re leaders.”
Nico Franco (2 points, 3 rebounds) and Andrew Remboldt (2 points, 3 rebounds) rounded out the scoring for the Grizzlies.
It will be a busy few days for both teams as the season winds down. Vintage will continue their four-game stretch in four days when they visit Petaluma on Wednesday. Napa will host Petaluma on Thursday to continue their three-game stretch in four days.
In other VVAL action on Tuesday night, Justin-Siena beat Sonoma Valley 67-39 and American Canyon beat Petaluma 67-59. To view the updated league standings, head here.
