Justin-Siena vaults out to early lead thanks to full-court press and spread out offense to beat Napa
By Kyle Foster
Twitter: @NapaKyle @NapaSportsNews
A fast start will surely make a coach sit back and relax. It may also make putting the head on the pillow better at night, too. Either way, you get that point that it’s enjoyable.
On Tuesday night, the Justin-Siena girls’ basketball team used a fast start to beat Napa High, 54-7, in a crosstown VVAL rivalry matchup at Messner Gym.
The Braves (8-8 overall, 2-1 VVAL) were able to get off to a fast start. They quickly vaulted out to a 19-0 lead before a bucket by Elizabeth Castaneda with 2:15 left in the first quarter. Justin-Siena also outscored Napa 19-0 in the second quarter to take a 40-3 lead into the half, and assure the victory was safe. From there, the Grizzlies (1-13, 0-3 VVAL) could never get their footing.
A fast start was a point of emphasis because that usually determines how the night will go for the Braves. So far this season, slow starts have led to losses, which is why a good start is monumental.
“It was really important for us to get confidence early,” Justin-Siena head coach Andy Bettencourt explained. “We really ebb and flow based on the energy we bring. I thought the girls brought a good intensity today and some confidence, which was really nice to see.”
They were able to get the early lead due to the full-court press, which led to a plethora of turnovers and in turn a nice amount of uncontested runs at the rim for an easy layup.
“It’s definitely a big part of the success of our team,” Justin-Siena senior guard Mary Heun said of the importance of the full-court press working and the ability to get teams on their heels early. “Being able to come out and just lock them up before they can get past half-court is definitely very important. And as long as we’re all rotating, our press works very well for us.”
Another thing that showed in this game was the fact that the Braves are able to score in a variety of different ways. After all, they were able to have 9 of the 12 players on the roster score in this game with 10 of 12 players getting a rebound.
The other thing that was key was the fact that Mary Heun had a career night for the Braves. The senior guard finished with a game-high of 20 points. She was able to take advantage of the fast break for the majority of points while also connecting on a trio of shots from three-point land. She was especially potent in the first half, where she scored 14 points.
“I’ve been urging Mary to shoot the three-point ball for four years,” Bettencourt said of finally seeing Heun shoot and connect on shots from beyond the arc. “This was a career-high for her tonight. I know that. But yeah, she has the ability to shoot it. I think sometimes she’s so good at driving the ball that she leans towards that, but absolutely, that’s part of her game that I would like to see her explore more because she can absolutely shoot it.”
Having a solid game in this one was Lauren Keller. The freshman forward finished with 8 points and three rebounds. Keller scored 6 of her points before the half and made both free throws.
Naveena Jackson also scored 7 points and grabbed 6 rebounds. The sophomore scored 5 points prior to the half while also making all three of her free throws.
Rounding out the scoring for Justin-Siena was Megha Jackson (5 points, 2 rebounds), Jordan Washington (4 points, 4 rebounds), Emery Messenger (3 points, 3 rebounds), Sophia Dominici (3 points, 3 rebounds), Taylor Stoppello (3 points, 1 rebound), and Hannah Spare (2 points, 1 rebound).
“I think everyone did contribute to this win, which was really nice,” Bettencourt said of the majority of his players getting a piece of the pie. “You know, we tell our team all the time, they wouldn’t be here if we didn’t think they could help us win. So to get everybody an opportunity to play extended minutes was really nice because they were able to showcase what they all can do.”
While it didn’t reflect on the scoreboard, the rebounding in this contest was close and in Napa’s favor as they won that battle 30-25.
“That’s good to hear,” Napa High head coach Taylor Willis said of the rebounding. “I knew were we working out jump them. So we’ve been hounding box outs, and that’s good to hear that we did something on that end.”
Leading Napa in the game was Joy Bradbury. The sophomore guard made a three-pointer and brought down 5 rebounds.
Others scoring for the Grizzlies were Castaneda (2 points, 1 rebound), Ellie Gibson (1 point, 6 rebounds), and Isabella Jasso-Nelson (1 point, 6 rebounds).
Both teams will continue VVAL play in the coming days. Napa will be back in action on Thursday night when they host American Canyon at 7 PM. As for Justin-Siena, they will have the league bye on Thursday before hosting Casa Grande next Tuesday night at 7 PM.
In other VVAL action Friday night, Vintage beat Petaluma 49-26, and American Canyon beat Casa Grande-Petaluma 41-34.
