Vintage uses four double-digit scorers, strong second half defensive effort to beat Novato

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By Kyle Foster

Kfost91197@gmail.com

Twitter/X: @NapaKyle @NapaSportsNews 

When it comes to Thanksgiving dinner, it’s best to keep it simple. There’s no need to make things harder when everything is right there in front of you. Well, the same can be said about basketball. When things aren’t going as you want, it’s best to calm down and take it one possession at a time. 

On Wednesday afternoon at Crusher Gym, this is what Vintage did as they beat Novato, 67-51, in a non-league game before the Thanksgiving holiday. 

The Crushers (2-1) were able to take control of the game midway through the second quarter when they strung together stops and scores. They did this thanks to playing hounding defense in the half-court, which created fast break opportunities.  

“Our third quarter has always been a quarter that we have not won,” Vintage first-year head coach Matt Uffmann pointed out. “So when we came in here (the locker room), it was basically just settling them down. They knew what they needed to do. They knew what they needed to change. I think reminding them that they’re capable to take over a game, especially a third quarter, they bought in, and they just executed like they have in practice.” 

However, it also helped that Vintage was able to win the third quarter. This was a point of emphasis and something they had struggled to do so far this season. 

“In my opinion, we come out cold,” Uffmann said of what has led to a slow start in the third quarter. “So we made it a point today where that third quarter, we were going to warm up out of the locker room, and I think that played an integral part in it.”  

Another thing that helped the Crushers win the contest was that they had four players in double figures. This makes a team much harder to defend when everyone is scoring. 

“Our focus is that it does not matter who scores the rock,” Uffmann explained. “All that matters is that we’re playing with great spacing. We’re playing unselfish, selfless basketball, and these guys have picked up on that.” 

Leading them all was senior Adar Yildiz. He finished with a team-high 18 points and 11 rebounds for a double-double performance. Yildiz took over in the second half, where he scored 12 points. He did all of his scoring around the rim and made both of his free throws in the game. 

“We love what we have in Adar,” Uffmann added. “He’s one of our team captains, voted on by the team. Even within this game, that wasn’t his best game, and yet, you pointed out he had a double-double. His ability to flush things that go wrong and just move on to the next play is, I think, where other kids gravitate toward him. He’s a fun guy to be around, but at the same time, he’s one of the most competitive guys we’ve got, and he embraces the challenge ahead.” 

Finishing as the Crushers’ next scorer in the game was Anthony Willmert. He finished with 15 points and 2 rebounds. The senior guard scored 8 points in the second half of the game and made 1 of 2 free throws in the contest. 

Also adding double-digits was junior guard Dom Oram. He finished with 14 points and 3 rebounds. Oram did all of his scoring in the first half, which was key to keeping Vintage in the game. He made three shots from the 3-point line and went 3 of 5 from the free-throw line. 

“He gives us energy. He gives us toughness, which is also one of our core values,” Uffmann said of Oram’s impact. “(It’s) not just physical toughness, it’s mental toughness. It’s like ‘Okay, coach, onto the next play. Okay, players on the next play.’ So he really got that game ball, because I saw him hustle his tail off from first to fourth quarter, the shot started not falling for him. He did not stop impacting the game in a positive way, in other ways, and that’s just why he got that game ball.” 

Rounding out the double-digit scoring for the Crushers was senior Rory Holland. He did it all in the game by pitching in 11 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 blocked shots. Holland scored 9 points in the second half and made 3 of 4 free throws. 

Others scoring in the game for Vintage were Austin Broyles (7 points, 3 rebounds), and Evan Rosette (2 points, 3 rebounds).   

Novato (0-3) hung around in the game in the first half. They took their largest lead of the game in the second quarter, right after they had gone on a 12-0 scoring run to give them an 18-16 lead. 

Vintage will be back in action next Thursday when they head over to Novato to play in their three-day tournament.