Justin-Siena wins key battle on the glass, gets trio of scorers in double figures to edge Vintage in slugfest
By Kyle Foster
Twitter/X: @NapaKyle @NapaSportsNews
When it comes to winning close games, rebounding is key and so is winning that battle around the rim.
On Saturday night at Daniel J. Clark Gym, this is what Justin-Siena did as they were able to beat Vintage, 68-56, in a local Super Saturday Battle of Trower Avenue Vine Valley Athletic League game.
Justin-Siena was a monster on the glass, and they won the rebounding battle 33-21 in the game.
“Rebounding’s been an issue for us all year,” Justin-Siena first-year head coach Corey Battle said of winning the battle on the glass. “We’ve rarely out-rebounded the other teams. But when we do rebound very well and limit second-chance scoring, we have a lot of success.”
The Braves (4-8, 2-1 VVAL) took control of the game at the end of the second quarter when they reeled off a 6-0 run, which gave them a 28-22 lead headed into the break.
“One of the big things we talked about in the game was being physical and bringing the energy we have from practice into the game,” Battle said of the burst to get the lead right before the break. “Of course, we didn’t in the beginning, and had to call a quick time out to get everybody to slow down.”
In the game, the do-it-all junior Asa Hightower finished with a game-high 18 points to go along with 8 rebounds and a blocked shot. Hightower scored 10 points in the first half and made 1 of 2 free throws in the game. He also scored all of his points around the bucket.
“He’s always been known as a good defensive player,” Battle explained of Hightower’s growth on the offensive side of the ball. “His offense is really the big jump that he’s made. He had an injury early in the year, and I think he’s just now getting to 100% where he’s able to showcase the offensive skills. But offensively, he’s worked on a lot of things. His mid-range jumper has improved. His confidence going to the hole, it’s gotten stronger.”
Meanwhile, Justin-Siena also had a trio of players finish the game in double figures. One of them was Alejandro Perryman who scored 12 points and had 3 rebounds. Perryman scored 8 points prior to the half and made 3 shots from downtown while going 1 of 2 at the free-throw line. All of this is a great contribution for a freshman.
“Perryman is a freshman with a lot of talent,” Battle pointed out. “He’s the next one coming through the school that I think is going to be very special. When he’s in a groove and he feels comfortable, he’s very tough for everybody to deal with, even at the higher levels we played at.”
Also finishing in double-digits was Xiano Ortega. The junior scored 10 points and corralled 8 rebounds. He scored 7 points in the first half and made 6 of 8 shots from the line.
“Xiano, he just knows one speed and that’s full speed all the time,” Battle explained. “He plays hard and aggressive, and is by far one of the strongest kids I’ve ever coached.”
Others scoring in the game for the Braves were Alex Winske (8 points, 3 rebounds, blocked shot), Armani Vargas (6 points, 6 rebounds), Dom Pucci (5 points, 2 rebounds), Bradley Bautista (4 points, 1 rebound), Grayson Wong (3 points), and Dallas Logwood (2 points, 2 rebounds).
At the start of the game, Vintage (2-11, 1-2 VVAL) was able to start the game fast and jump out to an early 11-3 lead after scoring 11 unanswered points. They were able to do this because they sped up the pace of the game with their intense defense.
From there, they were hurt by the deficit on the glass and could never recover.
However, they were led in the game by senior guard Gabe Carrejo who finished with a team-high of 12 points and 6 rebounds. Carrejo scored 7 points in the second half and made a pair of shots from three-point range in the game. He also connected on 6 of 9 chances at the line.
“The adjustment (at halftime) was actually to share the ball more, to take the ball out of Gabe’s hands, and do some of the things that we’ve done in practice, in the game,” Vintage head coach Ben Gongora said as to how Carrejo got going out of the half. “And we did that for a while and we were very successful with it. I think sometimes some of the teammates defer to Gabe. So we need to understand that we have some talented players on this team.”
Adar Yildiz scored 11 points and brought in 2 rebounds. The junior scored 7 points in the second half and was perfect at the line, going 3-for-3 there.
The last scorer in double figures for the Crushers was Rory Holland. He finished with 10 points and 4 rebounds. Holland scored 8 points before the break and all of his buckets were around the rim.
“I think on the I think on the scoring side, he definitely had his best game,” Gongora explained. “I think the simplest form, the difference on this game was we got manhandled on the boards. So that was it. We couldn’t get a rebound. So it’s hard to be competitive with that.”
Others scoring in the game for Vintage were Dominic Oram (9 points, 4 rebounds), Grayson Fryye (6 points, 1 rebound), Danny Ward (6 points, 1 rebound), and Anthony Wilmert (2 points, 2 rebounds).
Both teams will have a few days off before they are back into VVAL action at home on Wednesday night at 7 PM in rivalry games. Vintage will host crosstown rival Napa High and Justin-Siena will host Sonoma Valley.
In other league games, Casa Grande beat Napa 61-37 and Sonoma Valley beat Petaluma 61-34.
