Napa Valley uses full-court press to gain edge early, leans on foursome of double-digit scorers late to beat American River College
By Kyle Foster
Twitter: @NapaKyle @NapaSportsNews
When it comes to winning basketball games, having an excellent full-court trap to poach points is always nice.
Sometimes, it leads to instant offensive opportunities if it works as planned. When it works out like you want it to, it’s as satisfying as a bakery with tons of amazing pastries. In some cases, it’s almost handcrafted like a fine wine. No matter what, you’re very satisfied with the result.
In the first quarter, Napa Valley (5-4) jumped out to a 10-2 lead. After the teams matched baskets to begin the game, the Storm went on an 8-0 run before the Beavers finally scored.
The main reason they gained the early edge was due in large part to the full-court press that forced American River into turnovers that led to some instant offense.
“That’s kind of our personality,” Napa Valley College head coach Paul DeBolt said of the full-court press and how it led to an early edge. “We have a lot of players who can play. So we want to play as many as we can and we want to bring a lot of energy onto the court. So we want to press people if we can and that’s what we do. That’s kind of our calling card is full-court press back into man defense.”
Then, midway through the third quarter the Storm also reeled off 8 straight points until 2:29 was left and ARC had finally scored.
In the end, American River (2-8) was able to claw back and make it closer than it should’ve been. This was due to some turnovers and fouls where the Beavers were able to cut the edge to 3 before Addison Alsbury made a pair of free throws that iced the game.
But the main reason how the Storm won this one was the fact that they had a quartet of double-figure scores in the game.
“It speaks to just their talent levels and them just sharing the basketball,” DeBolt explained of the very evenly distributed scoring. “I think that’s something that we need to do (and) we need to get better at.”
The thing that was even crazier was the fact that three of the four double-digit scorers also finished the game with a double-double night.
Leading the way was Rose Jamison. The freshman finished with 15 points and 12 rebounds for one of the double-doubles. She scored the majority of her points out of the break when she had 8. The guard also went 3-for-7 from the free-throw line.
“Rose is very consistent with what she brings to the court,” DeBolt said of the freshman who led the team in scoring. “She’s an inside-out player. She’s tough. She rebounds, That’s about her per game is 15 to 20 points. So that’s a good thing. She’s just consistent. She’s just a rock.”
After that, it was Amaree Bennett who finished with 14 points and 3 rebounds in the game. The sophomore guard also went 1 of 2 from the stripe. She scored 8 of her points in the second half, which is also where she eclipsed 500 points scored in her time at Napa Valley College.
“It’s a very big accomplishment,” Bennett said of going over the 500-point mark in her time at NVC. “500 points in two years is amazing and I just want to say thank you to coach Paul for giving me this opportunity to play at Napa and show off my talents and be a team leader. It’s a good accomplishment.”
Adding in another double-double game was Suraya Lloyd. She finished the game with 13 points, 16 rebounds, 2 blocked shots, and an assist. She did the majority of her damage in the second half, where she pitched in 9 points. The freshman also converted on 3 of 4 free throws.
“Suraya has kind of grown into the level of what this team needs her to do,” DeBolt said of the freshman whose game is on the rise at the moment. “The three she made from the corner was huge, and she can make threes. She can post up, she’s a good passer inside. She’s maturing as a player. I mean, it’s nice to see her getting better and feeling more comfortable in her role.”
Rounding out the double-doubles was Brookly Giles. She finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Unlike the other three scorers, she was most effective in the first half where she scored 10 of her points.
“A good game for Brooklyn,” DeBolt continued. “She needs to be more aggressive offensively and feel more comfortable when she makes a mistake. think all of these players, they get upset when they make a mistake, and Brooklyn is one of those who just needs to be more aggressive with a basketball. What teams do with her, she’s so athletic they try to keep her in space and in space meaning there’s not a player up on her. She can be indecisive, so she really needs to attack and go to the basket, which she did tonight.”
Others rounding out the scoring included Daralonie Sykes (5 points, 4 rebounds), Alsbury (4 points, 5 rebounds), and Mirah Jackson (2 points, 1 rebound).
Napa Valley will have a short turnaround before they are back in action again when they host West LA on Saturday night at 7:30 pm. It will be their final tune-up before they host Solano on Wednesday night at 7:30 pm to begin Bay Valley Conference play.
