Behind key fourth quarter run and execution, Justin-Siena beats American Canyon to claim VVAL tournament title
By Kyle Foster
Follow on Twitter/X: @NapaKyle @NapaSportsNews
In a game that comes down to the final quarter, it takes a strong finish to win. Making the key plays is that much more important as well.
In the championship game of the Vine Valley Athletic League tournament on Saturday, this is what the No. 1 seeded Justin-Siena boys did as they beat No. 3 seed American Canyon, 57-49, in a game played at Napa High’s Messner Gym.
With the game tied at 41, the Braves (23-3) outscored American Canyon 16-8 to win the game
“First of all, let’s congratulate American Canyon on a great effort, a tremendous season that they’ve had, and they’re going to make some noise in the playoffs. I’m pretty confident of that,” Justin-Siena head coach George Nessman said. “Look, we just tell our guys to keep playing. That’s like one of the mantras we use a lot. Just keep playing, keep competing and I think we did that, and I think we made some key defensive stops.”
They were able to do this by playing solid defense in the quarter. Justin-Siena also went on a 9-0 run in the quarter that made them go from being down 2 to up 50-43.
“At the end of the day, we just got stops and we were able to execute on offense,” Justin-Siena senior center Jaden Washington explained. “And that’s what put us over the hump.”
Another thing that changed in the second half was the fact that Washington got going as well. He finished with a team-high of 21 points with 7 rebounds and a blocked shot. The senior center scored 13 points in the second half where he made three shots from the three-point line while making both free throws.
“Coaches told me to stay aggressive on my shots,” Washington said as to what changed for him in the second half. “Shots were going to start falling and they started to fall.”
The difference maker in the contest for the Braves was Dylan Arnold. He finished as the team’s second-highest scorer with 15 points. The do-it-all sophomore scored 8 points in the first half and made three shots from deep.
“Dylan’s a tremendous shooter,” Nessman explained. “He’s young. He’s a sophomore and he’s been progressing and he’s been playing more and he’s been producing more. So tonight, we went with him. He had the proverbial hot hand so we went with him and tonight he delivered for his team.”
Also scoring in double figures for Justin-Siena was Nick Jeramaz. The senior guard scored 12 points and grabbed 5 rebounds.
Rounding out the scoring for the Braves was Asa Hightower who had 7 points and 9 rebounds. Also scoring was Andrew Grimshaw with 2 points and 1 rebound.
The Wolves (20-9) kept the game close by being very physical and driving to the basket.
American Canyon also was able to overcome the zone defense that was thrown at them in the first game this season by stretching the zone and making some shots over it.
Also having a nice game for the Wolves was Julius Wade. The senior finished with a game-high 24 points. He scored 13 points in the second half of this one and made all 5 free throws.
It also helped that Noah Budu finished in double figures as well. He scored 11 points in the game. Budu also scored 7 of those in the second half and went 3 of 4 from the free-throw line.
Others scoring for American Canyon in the game were Justin Laron (4 points), Abdul Kates (4 points), Jack Turner (3 points), and Jason Ahamefule (3 points).
With the win, Justin-Siena joined elite company as the second team ever to go undefeated in league play and then win the league tournament, joining Napa High in 2019 who was the only other team to do it before.
Both teams will now head into the CIF North Coast Section playoffs next week as well. The section will release the brackets at some point today. With the Braves being so solid throughout the year, it is expected that they will receive a top-two seed in the Division 4 bracket.
“Well, it’s hard to suspect what a committee is going to do,” Nessman said. “But I suspect we’re going to be the one or two seed in NCS Division 4. And if that’s the case, based on what I see of the teams that are eligible for the postseason, that’ll lead us to the bye on Wednesday and we’d open play on Saturday night.”
This should mean a bye on Wednesday as well before playing on Saturday night. The bracket can be viewed here.
