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High School Girls Basketball - Justin-Siena Braves

Justin-Siena uses late first quarter run to gain advantage, puts game away with zone defense to beat Carlmont in Christmas Classic Opener

By Kyle Foster

Kfost91197@gmail.com

Twitter/X: @NapaKyle @NapaSportsNews

One way to beat a team is to take away what they do best. This is one of the core ideas of sports: finding a way to stop what the other team does best. 

In the opening round of the Justin-Siena Christmas Classic, this is how simple things needed to be for the hist Braves girls to beat Carlmont of Belmont, 71-43, in a game played at Daniel J. Clark Gym on Thursday. 

The Braves (6-0) put the game away in the second quarter when they buckled down on defense, yielding just 5 points to Carlmont in the period. One reason they were able to do this was that they went away from man defense to a 2-3 zone, which all but eliminated driving lanes. 

“Zone is something that we practice daily,” Justin-Siena head coach Andy Bettencourt explained. “So it’s not something out of the ordinary for us. We just don’t usually use it in games because sometimes you can give up wide-open shots. But actually, the players came to us about a week or two ago and told us that they were really confident in a 2-3 zone if we ever wanted to go to it.” 

Justin-Siena’s Sophia Dominici goes up for a jumper against Carlmont on Thursday night at Clark Gym. (Kyle Foster)

On top of that, once Justin-Siena made the key adjustment to stop getting beat at the rim, they ran off a 7-0 run as the first quarter came to an end. This gave them a key 16-8 lead and breathing room following the first part of the quarter being tight. 

“They did a good job of setting screens and getting their actions going to the rim,” said Bettencourt who is also the tournament director. “When we went to the zone, we were definitely able to stifle that a little bit. And we always talk about our defense leading to our offense, and tonight, it really did.” 

Maybe another thing that was key in gaining separation in the game was the fact that the Braves made 6 shots from three-point range, which only opened up the offense and made the offense get going. 

“At the Healdsburg tournament, we really didn’t shoot well from the three-point line,” Bettencourt explained. “We feel like we’re better three-point shooters than we showed in that tournament.  And tonight I thought the girls did a great job of stepping in their shots with confidence, and even the ones that missed look good honestly.” 

Justin-Siena’s Jordan Washington drives into the key against a pair of Carlmont defenders on Thursday night at Clark Gym. (Kyle Foster)

Leading Justin-Siena in the game was senior center Jordan Washington. She finished with 17 points, 8 rebounds, and 5 blocked shots. She also scored 9 points in the second half of this one. Washington made one shot from three-point range and was 4 of 6 at the free-throw line in the game. 

After that, the Braves had a pair of players who scored 11 points each in different ways. One of those was Madyson Carson who finished with 11 points and 4 rebounds. Carson did all of her damage in the first half by scoring 9 points. The senior center made a shot from deep in the game as well and was key to the Braves getting ahead in the first half of the game. 

“Mady has been our third-leading scorer this year, and she just does such a good job of finding ways to score, and she can do it in a multitude of ways,” Bettencourt said of the senior who was key in the first half of the game. “She can shoot a three, she can make a layup. We saw both of those tonight. She’s a really good rebounder, so Mady brings so much to the floor for us. It’s really nice to have her.” 

Justin-Siena’s Lauren Keller drives to the basket on a fast break against Carlmont on Thursday night at Clark Gym. (Kyle Foster)

Also finishing with 11 points and 4 rebounds was Lauren Keller. The junior started the game slowly but had a great second half as she scored 9 points out of the break. Keller also made 5 of 6 shots at the line in the game.  

Others scoring for Justin-Siena in the game were Dylan Zapolski (8 points, 2 rebounds), Naveena Jackson (7 points, 9 rebounds), Taylor Stoppello (6 points on two threes, 2 rebounds, and a blocked shot), Caiden Grimmer (5 points, 2 rebounds), Nadia Sousa (4 points, 1 rebound), and Lydia Heil (2 points, 1 rebound). 

With the win. Justin-Siena will face Cardinal Newman-Santa Rosa on Friday night at 7:30 PM in a battle of two North Bay heavies. In the other semifinal at 6 pm, it will be Clovis against Moreau Catholic. 

“Newman’s a program that we’ve looked up to for years in terms of how they play,” Bettencourt said of the clash in the tournament semifinals with the Cardinals. “I feel like they play the right way. (Head coach) Monica (Mertle) does a phenomenal job over there.  So it’s something that we’ve used as a measuring stick for us just kind of trying to continue to build to be a better program. We look forward to the challenge and it’s a big challenge because they’re very good.” 

On the consolation side of the bracket, Saint Mary’s-Berkeley will face Monte Vista-Danville at 3 pm and Arcata will face Carlmont at 4:30 pm.  

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