Vintage starts and finishes game strong to get past Justin-Siena, avenge earlier loss
By Kyle Foster
Twitter: @NapaKyle @NapaSportsNews
It’s always nice to start the game fast, but it’s even nicer to finish the game fast as well.
The Vintage girls’ basketball team did this on Wednesday night when they beat Justin-Siena 50-34.
The Crushers started the game on a 6-0 run to immediately seize control of the contest.
But the main thing that put the game away was the 11-0 run in the fourth quarter, where they used unleashed their full-court press that pushed the lead to double-digits late. Both times, Vintage used their full-court man-to-man defense to fluster Justin-Siena.
“We threw a couple of different zones out,” Vintage head coach Joe Donohoe said of the defensive scheming. “We went from 13 (half-court trap) to basically a 2-1-2 flying around. But more importantly, we played full-court man-to-man in that last six minutes, and you saw the results.”
Justin-Siena head coach Andy Bettencourt said the pressure by Vintage bothered his team down the stretch.
“Their pressure clearly bothered us,” he explained. “I think their pressure sped us up and made us lose our fundamentals, and they made shots – and all credit to them. They finished that game a lot stronger than we did and deserved to win.”
The Braves (15-9, 8-3 VVAL) were able to take their first lead in the game when Mary Heun converted a layup with 6:10 left in the third quarter.
With the win, Vintage will finish with a 7-5 record in Vine Valley Athletic League play and they will finish with a 15-11 record on the year. They will find out if they make the playoffs as an at-large bid on Sunday.
The Crushers were also able to avenge a loss against Justin-Siena last month as well. This is also the second season in a row that the two have split their meetings.
“It was very important,” Donohoe explained. “It was our probably last game unless some miracle happens that we get an at-large. This is the team that I knew we were. We’ve had a pretty good run these last couple of weeks, and you can’t convince me that we’re not the best team in this league – even though our record doesn’t show it. Things didn’t fall our way for one way or another, and nobody is to blame. When we get it going, we’re pretty tough to deal with.”
Vintage was led by junior center Leire Riestra in the game. She finished with a game-high 13 points, 6 rebounds, and a block.
She also did most of her damage in the second half, when she scored 11 points. She also converted 2 of 4 free throws.
“I was definitely more confident, and I just thought to myself ‘I just have to win,’” Riestra said as to what changed for her in the second half. “So I just have to get to work.”
Lizzie Qui also had a good night scoring 11 points and grabbing 2 rebounds.
“She’s really important,” Riestra continued. “She’s our point guard, and I just feel like she’s a really good driver, and really opens things up for us.”
Liv Hedberg (7 points, 2 rebounds), Kate Kerr (6 points, 6 rebounds), Eden Wood (6 points, 8 rebounds), Ella Pridmore (5 points, 1 rebound), and Rachel Galvin (2 points, 6 rebounds) rounded out the scoring for Vintage.
Justin-Siena had an uncharacteristic night on the offensive end as well, as they had no scorer in double figures.
Their highest scorer was Charmaine Griffin who finished with 7 points and 10 rebounds. Cassie Richardson (6 points, 5 rebounds), Megha Jackson ( 6 points, 3 rebounds), Jordan Washinton (5 points, 9 rebounds), Isabella Wright (5 points, 5 rebounds), Bella Balmaceda (3 points), and Mary Heun (2 points, 6 rebounds) rounded out the scoring for the Braves.
Justin-Siena will host American Canyon in its season finale on Friday night at 5:30 pm. It will be their Senior night game as well. In the last meeting, Justin-Siena beat American Canyon 50-41 on January 24th.
