Marin Catholic takes advantage of turnovers, plays strong defense in second and third quarters to beat Justin-Siena in title game
By Kyle Foster, photo courtesy of Eric Thompson (Shamboozled.com)
Twitter/X: @NapaKyle @NapaSportsNews
When you get deep into the playoffs, everyone can play. Taking care of the basketball and not forcing shots is very important when facing top-level competition.
In Saturday night’s CIF North Coast Section Division 2 championship game, No. 3 Marin Catholic-Kentfield beat No. 1 Justin-Siena, 64-55, thanks to turnovers in a game played at the Daniel J. Clark Gym after originally being slated to be plated at Napa High but moved because of scoreboard issues.
The Wildcats (21-11) won the contest by forcing numerous turnovers and taking advantage of them on the other end. Marin Catholic did this by going on a 7-0 run to start the second quarter, which shifted the momentum to their side.
“I definitely thought we, we started forcing things both passing and shooting,” Justin-Siena head coach Andy Bettencourt said of turnovers and how they hurt them. “Honestly, I think some of our missed shots could have counted as turnovers. We just didn’t do a good enough job of executing and that really hurt us.”
Marin Catholic also held Justin-Siena (27-3) to a par of single-digit scoring quarters as they scored 9 in the second and 4 in the third.
“Give them all the credit,” Bettencourt explained. “They did a good job defensively after the first quarter of really making some adjustments and making life hard on us on the offensive end of the floor, on the defensive end of the floor. I just didn’t think we played our best game, and they made some big-time shots. And when you when you have that combination, this is the result you get, unfortunately.”
It also helped that the Wildcats beat the defense at key times with some layups. Numerous times in the game, they got a good look when the game was about to flip.
Also having a major impact on the game was senior Izzy McFadden. The senior guard finished the game with a high of 25 points. She also made 1 of 4 free-throw attempts. The do-it-all senior scored 15 points in the first half and made 4 shots from behind the three-point line.
“She’s awesome, and she made big shots when they needed them,” Bettencourt said of McFadden and how she changed the game. “That’s what good players do. And she’s been a really good player for them for years now. And you know she played like someone who’d been there before. You have to give her credit. Some of her shots were open. Some of them were not, and she seemed to make them when they needed them.”
The Wildcats also received a nice effort from sophomore wing Brooke Spagnuolo, who scored 14 points in the game. She scored 9 points in the first half and made 5 of 7 shots from the line in the game.
Others scoring in the game for Marin Catholic were Cecilia Bennett (9 points), Jocelyn Gigounas (8 points), Sienna Frazier (7 points), and Makayla Marsten (1 point).
Justin-Siena began the game playing the best they had in a while. The Braves went on a 6-0 run to go up 17-10 and looked to be in control. They also went up 26-15 at one point in the period for their biggest lead of the game thanks to shooting well and making good decisions.
“I thought we got out in transition well, and, quite frankly, we knocked down shots,” Bettencourt said of the fast start to the game. “The ball movement was great, and we were getting open shots, and our girls were stepping in with confidence and hitting them. After that first quarter, it just felt a lot harder to not only produce open shots but then make them.”
Leading the Braves in the game was Jordan Washington who finished with a game-high 25 points with 15 rebounds, and a blocked shot for a double-double. Washington scored 13 points in the first half and made 10 of 13 free throws.
“We know that Jordan’s going to bring it every time she steps on the floor and she just continues to do so,” Bettencourt explained of Washington’s valiant effort in the game. “We’re lucky to have her and we hope that she can continue doing this when we go into state.”
Dylan Zapolski added 10 points for Justin-Siena. She scored 7 points in the first half and made a pair of shots from beyond the arc.
Others scoring for the Braves were Lauren Keller (7 points, 4 rebounds), Madyson Carson (7 points, 1 rebound), Sophia Dominici (3 points, 4 rebounds), Taylor Stoppello (3 points), and Naveena Jackson (2 points, 6 rebounds).
With the win, Marin Catholic won an NCS title in four straight years.
Both teams will find out their fate tomorrow afternoon when the CIF releases the regional brackets. Games will begin on Tuesday. You can find all the CIF Regional brackets here.
“We trust the resolve and the competitiveness of this team,” Bettencourt emphasized. “We know they’re going to show up on Monday, ready to compete and ready to go try to make a state run.”
