Vintage uses fast start to gain lead, full-court press to beat Napa for Big Game sweep
By Kyle Foster
Twitter/X: @NapaKyle @NapaSportsNews
When you’re a slow-starting team that generally plays better in the second half, it’s nice to get a better start.
On Monday night at Messner Gym, this is what Vintage did as they beat rival Napa High, 36-20, in a Vine Valley Athletic League contest.
Vintage (8-15 overall, 3-7 VVAL) was able to get the lead they needed to win the game right away. After a slow start to begin the first quarter, the Crushers went on an 8-0 run to end the quarter and a 9-0 run between the quarters, which gave them a nice 11-2 lead.
“We talked for a good while before the game about coming out strong, not just being a team that wakes up in the third quarter,” Vintage first-year head coach Hannah Newman explained. “So it was nice to see them implement that right away.”
This start was very much needed as Vintage has been a slow-starting team all season long. For this reason, the fast start to the game was nice.
“We’ve really been stressing coming out strong because the past few games like we just pick it up in the second half,” Vintage junior forward Elinor Travers said of the importance of starting the game fast. “So we’ve been stressing before the game to just come out strong.”
In the second half, the Crushers put the game away with the help of their full-court press to speed up the game and get some easy buckets.
“So obviously full-court pressing is fun,” Newman said. “I think it’s one of the funnest ways to play basketball, and the girls seem to respond the best to it. It really works well for us, and we don’t foul every possession. So it was nice to see them execute just with defensive intensity and not doing any of the extra things that sometimes can backfire in a full-court press.”
Leading the Crushers in the game was Travers finished with a game-high 15 points and 7 rebounds. The junior forward also scored 9 points in the second half and went 1 of 2 from the free-throw line. Travers also made 7 shots from right around the bucket, which has been her specialty all season long.
“She’s just great,” Newman said. “She’s been dealing with injuries on and off this whole season.”
One of the parts where her game has grown as the season has gone on has been her play in the paint. She has become more confident there and has been a rebounding machine all year to help the cause. She did all of this coming off of an injury, too.
“I always try to look for my teammates,” Travers said. “If my teammates aren’t open, I try to look to the rim. I know (assistant coach) Dylan’s (Newman) always telling me I gotta go to the rim, so I always look for that option, obviously coming off an injury, as a bit of a slow start.”
Others scoring for Vintage in the game were Sydney Morton (7 points, 1 rebound), Ashley Gerenser (5 points, 5 rebounds), Lauren Gerenser (4 points, 2 rebounds), Samantha Kennedy (3 points, 3 rebounds), Madelyn Alvarez (1 point, 3 rebounds), and Noelle Rofkahr (1 point, 2 rebounds).
This win was a much-needed one for the Crushers as they had entered the game on a four-game losing streak.
As for Napa (2-20, 0-11 VVAL), they were able to keep the game close after the initial run where the game was decided.
They also got a good game from senior Wendy Martinez. She finished with a team-leading 9 points and 3 rebounds. She scored 5 points in the first half and made 3 of 4 free throws in the game.
“Wendy Martinez has been our most consistent player,” Napa High first-year head coach Andrew Phillips said of the senior. “With Wendy Martinez, early on in the season, she was relying a lot on her three-point shooting, which wasn’t bad, but I kind of put a little weight on her shoulder to get to the basket, which she’s taken ownership of doing that.”
Others scoring in the game for the Grizzlies were Joy Bradbury (5 points, 2 rebounds), Lily Gonzalez (2 points, 5 rebounds), Jade Anglin (2 points, 4 rebounds), and Alison Dominguez Gonzalez (2 points).
While the results haven’t changed with the record, Napa has been more competitive in games this year. Part of that is the fact that Phillips doesn’t like to lose and that the players have bought into his beliefs.
“I’ve been around here forever. I’m a very competitive coach, and I’m looking for nothing more than for them to be competing, whether we win or lose as long as we can compete,” Phillips explained. “If we can just learn how to take care of that basketball again and you talk about where we are and where we were is a great feeling. (Assistant) Coach Makayla (Glenn) and myself, we weren’t looking to be at this place at this time, this fast, and we do have some players that will be leaving and we have a group that’s hungry and want to work.”
Both teams will round out the league season with games this week. Vintage will visit American Canyon on Wednesday at 7 pm and Napa will end the year at Sonoma Valley at 4 pm.
In other VVAL games Monday night, Justin-Siena beat Sonoma Valley 59-29 and American Canyon beat Petaluma 75-38.
