Justin-Siena uses big run at end of first quarter to gain upper hand, cruise past Freedom in home-opener
By Kyle Foster
Twitter: @NapaKyle @NapaSportsNews
Last season was a magical one for the Justin-Siena boys’ basketball team. After all, they made it to the CIF Division 4 championship game, where they finished runner-up.
That being said, it’s a new year where the Braves have to battle to get back to that spotlight again.
They certainly had to battle, as Justin-Siena beat Freedom of Oakley, 59-44, in their home-opener at the Daniel J. Clark Gymnasium on Saturday afternoon.
The Braves (2-0) were in a tight game throughout the first quarter. Then about midway through, Justin-Siena went on a 14-0 run that made it 18-5 with just 21 seconds left in the period. The Braves continued this stellar defense as they went to the break with a hefty 36-17 lead after giving up just 10 points in the second quarter.
“We ran a couple of traps. But mostly, we just played better,” Justin-Siena head coach George Nessman said of the defense early on. “That’s really most team’s adjustments. It is just to play better to execute what you’re trying to do at a higher level, more efficiency, and we were able to do that.”
Freedom (0-1) hung around the rest of the way, even clawing back at the end to get the margin back to 15, which is where it was when the game ended.
One of the major reasons Justin-Siena was so successful in this one was their senior scorers leading the way.
It was Vince Jackson who led all Braves scorers with 18 points and three rebounds. Jackson did most of his damage out of the half by scoring 10 points in the latter stages of the game.
“It’s big because once he gets it going and they double him, it opens it up for the rest of the team,” Justin-Siena senior point guard Ma’el Blunt said of Jackson’s importance in opening up the offense in the paint.
However, it was Travis Hightower who finished the contest with a double-double of 14 points, 11 rebounds, and four blocked shots. All of his points came in the first half of the contest as well.
“Travis is a reflection of the effort our guys put in in the offseason, especially during the summer. They did a lot of skill work,” Nessman said of Hightower. “They concentrated on you know, getting better as individual basketball players and a little bit as a team. We spent time lifting in the fall. We’re a bigger, faster, stronger version of last year’s team is basically what we are.”
Blunt finished the game as the beneficiary of the attention paid to Hightower and Jackson by finishing with 9 points and five rebounds in the game. Blunt also converted 3 of 4 free-throw attempts.
This game was also a fun game for Blunt who spent the first two years of high school at Freedom and new players on the other side in this one.
“It meant a lot. It was fun,” Blunt said of facing the team he started his high school basketball tenure with. “I was locked in since I woke up. It’s been on my schedule. I circled this game on my schedule. It was a fun one to play.”
Asher Cleary went 2 of 4 from the line and finished with 8 points. Nate Spare (3 points, 2 rebounds), Jaden Washington (3 points, 3 rebounds), Andrew Grimshaw (2 points, 3 rebounds), and Nick Jeramaz (2 points on 4 free throws, 2 rebounds) rounded out the scoring for the Braves.
Justin-Siena will have a few days off before they are back in action again, which will be Thursday night when they face Santa Margarita at 8 pm in the Vontoure Classic at De La Salle in Concord.
