Justin-Siena wins defensive battle over Petaluma on Senior Night to complete perfect league season, take home first league title in 24 years
By Kyle Foster
Twitter: @NapaKyle @NapaSportsNews
There are times when winning ugly is needed because a team isn’t always going to play its best game. That could also be that they’re facing a quality team, too.
On Monday night at Daniel J. Clark Gym, both were true as the Justin-Siena boys’ basketball team outlasted Petaluma for a 61-48 victory on Senior Night.
The Braves (23-3 overall, 12-0 Vine Valley Athletic League) were able to gain a slim five-point edge midway through the first quarter when they went on a 5-0 run after the game had been tied at 7. That would send them into the break up 29-24.
“Honestly, we just had to go back to like our basics, Justin-Siena senior forward Vince Jackson explained as to how they were able to pull away. “We had to move the ball, keep moving the ball. That’s usually what happens when you get down at the start. We’re not moving the ball that much and we’re just taking one shot. But this time, what got us our lead was our ball movement and sharing the ball and giving it to the open guy.”
To begin the final period, Justin-Siena went on an 11-6 burst that pushed the lead to 13.
One of the reasons the Trojans (16-9, 9-3 VVAL) was able to just hang around was the fact that they played some solid defense and forced the Braves into uncharacteristic turnovers. Petaluma also kept the game in the half-court and didn’t allow the offense to get out on the break.
“They do a great job with the ball,” Justin-Siena head coach and athletic director George Nessman said as to how the game stayed so tight. “They’re very good off the bounce and they can control some tempo just by moving the ball and picking their spots when to attack and it’s hard to turn them over. So we expected this type of game. This is a very similar game to what we played at Petaluma as well. So I’m not surprised it played out the way did.”
While all of that wasn’t necessarily normal compared to other times this season, one thing that stayed the same was Travis Hightower. The senior combo guard-forward was all over the court making plays. In the first half, he hit a fadeaway mid-ranger, something that isn’t too easy to do. At one point in the third quarter, Hightower accounted for exactly half of the Braves’ offensive output when they were stuck on 36 in the third quarter.
“Travis has been on a nice run the last ten days or so,” Nessman explained. “He’s put up some big numbers and been very efficient doing it, which is what we really want from him – we want him to be efficient and he was that. Different guys can carry the load for our teams during different stretches and Travis certainly has done that a number of times this year.”
In the game, he finished with 22 points and brought in 5 rebounds. Hightower also brought in 7 rebounds in the game. He scored 13 points prior to halftime and made 2 of his 4 free throws.
Also having a nice night was Jackson who finished with 14 points and brought in 7 rebounds. He scored 8 points in the second half and made all 4 free throws as well.
“I was just trying to be aggressive,” Jackson pointed out. “I was just trying to look for my shot. I think I had kind of a slow start at the beginning but I just had to stay aggressive.”
One thing that was key was that a few role players stepped up in the second half of the contest as well. After all, Ma’el Blunt finished with 9 points and brought in 6 rebounds, and blocked a shot.
Then, DJ Ryan added 7 points with 1 rebound. The senior hit a clutch three-pointer and scored 5 points in the second half.
“DJ is our best overall team defender and he’s really good at communicating and helping guys stay positionally sound,” Nessman said of Ryan. “He can shoot the ball better than people think. But we have so many other weapons that he doesn’t he often defers to them.”
Others scoring for the Braves were Nick Jeremaz (4 points), Jaden Washington (3 points, 2 rebounds), and Asher Cleary (2 points, 4 rebounds).
Both teams will now head into the VVAL tournament. As the league winner and No. 1 seed Justin-Siena will face No. 4 Vintage. Meanwhile, Petaluma will be the 2nd seed and face the 3rd seed American Canyon. All VVAL tournament games will take place at Casa Grande High School in Petaluma. Times are still TBA.
Earlier this season, the Braves swept the season series against Vintage. On January 6th, they won 67-33 and then on January 25th, they won 65-45.
In other VVAL action Monday night, American Canyon beat Vintage 65-59 and Sonoma Valley beat Casa Grande 65-52. You can view the final VVAL standings here.
Braves make history with VVAL title
The victory means that Justin-Siena officially clinches the league title. It is their first boys’ basketball league title since 1999 when all of the players on the roster weren’t even born.
“It’s great to finally get a league title,” Jackson explained. “Especially after last season, we were really hoping to get one. So it was pretty disappointing not to win one. So to be able to win it this year is great.”
To go along with that bit of history, there is also some significance to this one as well – they went undefeated in the league. In the four-year history of the VVAL, it is a very exclusive club to win the league without losing to another VVAL opponent. The last time this happened was in the first year of the league in the 2018-19 season when Napa High went undefeated in the league and went 23-6 overall.
“It’s just a hard thing to do, and particularly when you have a quality league with quality opponents, which we have,” Nessman said of the undefeated league season. “So I feel good. It requires that your team take every game seriously and see the challenges inherent in every opponent and I think we did that.”
Justin-Siena honors eight Seniors
Prior to tip, the school honored the eight seniors in their final regular season home game. There will likely still be plenty ahead with playoffs.
Those honored were Hightower, Ryan, Blunt, Cleary, Orlando Martinez, Jackson Dunkley, Nathan Spare, and Jackson.
All of them were members of last year’s team that played in the CIF State Division 4 title game at Golden One Center in Sacramento where they were runners-up in the state. They also all just won their first league title in their high school careers.
