Napa Valley uses monster run to begin fourth quarter to gain separation and beat Marin to clinch playoff berth
By Kyle Foster
Follow on Twitter/X: @NapaKyle @NapaSportsNews
When a pair of teams are even, a massive run can be a knockout blow to the other team.
On Tuesday night at Storm Gym, this is what the Napa Valley College women’s basketball team did when they beat College of Marin, 59-47, in a key Bay Valley Conference matchup.
Entering the fourth quarter, the contest was just a one-point game with Napa Valley up 37-36. But once the final frame got underway, the Storm (15-12 overall, 9-4 BVC) went on a massive 14-0 burst to go up 51-36 with 6:23 left to play.
“We pulled it together,” Napa Valley College sophomore guard Brooklyn Giles said of the huge run to begin the fourth. “We knew that they weren’t going to just give it to us, especially being our Sophomore night. We had to take it. Teams are coming in here to ruin our Sophomore night. So it wasn’t going to be something that was going to be easy. So we really just flipped that switch in the fourth quarter and knew that if this was going to be our game, we had to make it our game.”
During the game-deciding run, Napa Valley was playing hounding defense and controlling the tempo of the game as well.
“I think what was working was our defense,” Napa Valley College freshman guard Kamilah Tiongco said. “Like we all really were just aggressive on defense and we all hustled for the ball and really wanted to get down in transition, easy layups and easy buckets.”
In the end, they also just wore Marin down as well. This was evident most during the final quarter. But Marin also could never get out to that much of a lead before the final quarter either.
“I think we just wore them down, to be honest about it,” Napa Valley College head coach Paul DeBolt said. “The teams know each other really, really well and we just started taking advantage of some little things. And before you knew it, we made some shots. We got some steals, made some layups got some free throws, and all of a sudden we’re up 15 and with about six minutes left, so that was really a great team win for us for my players.”
It also helped that the offense got going in the second half. This showed as some of the top-scoring threats were able to put the ball through the net.
Leading the way for Napa Valley in the game was Giles. She finished with a game-leading 26 points and 19 rebounds for a double-double.
Giles had her double-double before halftime, which made the game even more impressive as well. She scored 16 points in the second half and made 6 of 8 free throws in the game. She also made a huge impact on the defensive side of the ball with 4 blocked shots.
“She’s amazing,” DeBolt explained of Giles. “The other thing that I noticed the second half of Brooklyn was she let it kind of come to her. It’s hard being a player like Brooklyn, where your teammates depend on you to score and so you’re forcing some stuff. But at a point of the game and it’s basketball when you just let the game come to you, and you take the opportunities that are there.”
Tiongco also made a huge difference in the game down the stretch. After a quiet first half, she made a pair of three-pointers and scored 10 points. In the game, she finished with 13 points and 6 rebounds while also making both free throws in the game.
“I think for me was that they kept trusting me with the ball,” Tiongco said of her key second half. “So it really helped me a lot, become confident and keep shooting no matter what even if I miss.”
All season long, teams have overlooked the sharp shooting Tiongco, which is why she has been a consistent scorer at key times.
“It was one of the rare times where Kamilah actually wanted the ball,” DeBolt added. “She’s just a great shooter, a great team player, has a nice floor game. But tonight, she wanted the ball. So that was nice to see because there have been few and far between the times this year where she really wanted the ball and wanted to shoot it and we wanted her to shoot.”
Rounding out the scorers in double figures for the game was Daralonie Sykes. She finished with 12 points and 5 rebounds. Sykes scored 6 points in each half.
Others scoring for Napa Valley in the game were Alicia Johnson (4 points, 1 rebound), Bella Merritt (2 points, 3 rebounds), and Jordyn Allen (2 points, 4 rebounds).
One of the reasons why the College of Marin (14-13, 8-5 BVC) was able to hang around in the game was the effort from Isobele Crosswhite. She finished with a team-high 18 points and was hard to guard because she was a rebounding machine.
“Trying to front her in the post, she’s such a force down there,” DeBolt said of the game plan to slow down Crosswhite. “She starts at the high post and kind of meanders down and if if she backs, she wins. She’s gonna score. So we tried to front her as much as possible.”
Samantha Morris was the Mariners’ other double-digit scorer as she scored 14 points in the game.
With the win, Napa Valley locked up third place in the BVC behind powerhouses Laney and Solano. The win is also a season sweep over Marin, which gives them the head-to-head tiebreaker. The win also means a birth in the Northern California CCCAA playoffs.
Napa Valley will be back in action on Thursday at 5:30 pm when they visit Yuba in Marysville to end the season.
Storm honors 4 sophomores before tip-off
Before the game started, it was Sophomore night where NVC honored Giles, Sykes, Bella Merritt, and Aaliyah Gaitan.
This was their final home game at Napa Valley College.
