Strong defense over final three quarters leads Justin-Siena past Windsor, as Washington has huge game in opener
By Kyle Foster
Follow on X: @NapaKyle @NapaSportsNews
When a team is hanging with you, sticking to the fundamentals is key.
In their season-opener on Saturday afternoon, the Justin-Siena boys basketball team did just this as they beat Windsor, 57-36 at the Clark Gym.
In the first half, the Jaguars (0-1) were able to hang around thanks to shooting lights out from beyond the arc. Every time down the floor, it seemed as if they were converting a shot from the three-point line.
“I thought Windsor first of all played a good game,” Justin-Siena head coach George Nessman pointed out. “They’re a strong team, they can shoot the heck out of the ball, they are system-oriented. They’re well-coached. They had us scattered really well. We had to just stay with it.”
To begin the contest, Justin-Siena was down 5-0 after a fast start by the Jaguars. But they then reeled off 12 unanswered points to get their first lead of the game.
After the first quarter, Justin-Siena (1-0) held Windsor to single-digit point totals the rest of the way.
“They were hitting all their shots in that first quarter and first half,” Justin-Siena senior Jaden Washington explained. “So we just had to lock in on defense and step up our game, and that’s what happened.”
They were able to go into the break with a 29-23 lead after outscoring Windsor 14-5 in the second quarter.
On top of this, the Braves went on an 8-3 run that lasted till the 1:55 mark of the third, which bumped the lead to 18 points.
However, maybe the most glaring reason why Justin-Siena was able to come away with the win was the great effort they got from Washington. He finished with a game-high 28 points with 5 rebounds, and a blocked shot. He was the reason the Braves were able to hang around in the first quarter as he scored 11 points in that period while scoring 14 in the first half.
“Jaden is someone obviously we’re counting on to have a big season,” Nessman said. “He’s comfortable in the role of producing for our team.”
Washington was perfect from the free-throw line as well by converting on all 7 of his attempts.
Taking some of the burden to score off of his hands in this one was Charlie Vaziri. The junior finished with 10 points and 6 rebounds. He was the only other scorer in double figures for the Braves.
“He brings that competitive spirit,” Washington said of Vaziri. “He’s gonna fight for every loose ball. He’s gonna get every rebound.”
Rounding out the scoring for Justin-Siena was Josh Madayag (9 points on 3 three-pointers), Nick Jeremaz (6 points, 3 rebounds), Andrew Grimshaw (2 points, 3 rebounds), and Justin Mangelson (2 points, 1 rebound).
In the contest, the Braves finished with a perfect mark at the free-throw line as they made all 16 of their shots from the line.
Justin-Siena will be back in action next Tuesday night at 6 pm when they visit Fort Bragg.
