Justin-Siena gets just enough offense to grind out victory over Marin Catholic in opener

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

By Kyle Foster 

Kfost91197@gmail.com

Twitter/X: @NapaKyle @NapaSportsNews

Not all wins are nice and easy. But when it’s not easy to win, that’s when you find out the type of grit your team has. Some would call this character building at this point of the season. 

On Tuesday night in the Clark Gym, this is what the Justin-Siena girls basketball team did as it beat Marin Catholic-Kentfield, 47-40, to open the new campaign. 

The Braves (1-0) were able to win this game due in large part to getting just enough offense in the second half to hang on. 

“I thought on a night where I don’t think we played our best game, we found a way to kind of grind out a win, and that was really fun to watch,” Justin-Siena head coach Andy Bettencourt said. “We made just enough plays on offense and just enough stops on defense to win the game, and then obviously had some big free throws down the stretch to put it away.” 

Out of the break, the Braves also went on a run to go up 38-31 through three quarters. 

However, in the first half, Justin-Siena immediately jumped out to an early lead behind a 6-0 run. This put them in control of things early. 

It also helped that Justin-Siena had a pair of players score in double digits in the game. This was due in large part to getting some buckets in transition. 

“I thought our transition offense got going with some defensive stops and being able to run out,” Bettencourt added. “Marin Catholic was crashing the offensive boards hard. And when you do that, you you do leave the possibility open for the other team to run out. So when we were able to secure a rebound, I thought the girls did a good job for the most part of pushing the ball forward and getting some easy buckets.” 

Leading the way for the Braves was senior Lauren Keller. She ended the contest with a double-double performance of 17 points, 10 rebounds, and a blocked shot. Keller did the majority of her scoring in the first half, where she scored 15 points. The senior also made 3 of 5 free throws in the game. 

“I think, as I enter into Lauren’s senior year and our fourth year together, what I love most about her is her resiliency,” Bettencourt said of Keller, who is in her final year at the varsity level. “Quite frankly, I don’t think she had her best quarter in the first quarter, and to watch her respond, come out and just compete in that second quarter and make play after play. That’s just who she is. She just finds a way to get things done. (In) the second half,  I just don’t think the opportunities were there. They played a lot more zone in the second half, and kind of squeezed her in the middle. So we have to do a better job of getting her more opportunities. But overall, again, just proud to be her coach.” 

Finishing as Justin-Siena’s next highest scorer in the game was Haven Stone. The sophomore guard finished with 14 points and 4 rebounds. She was key in the second half, where she scored 12 points and made 9 of 11 free throws in the game. 

“We’re really lucky to have Haven come to Justin-Siena,” Bettencourt explained. “Her family moved here. Haven, as good of a player as she is skill-wise, I think what I love most about her is her competitiveness and her toughness. She has just been an absolute joy to have in our program, from a skill standpoint, obviously, but also just from a competitive toughness standpoint.” 

Others scoring for the Braves in the game were Katie Kelleher (7 points, 7 rebounds), Kayden Coloma (5 points, 3 rebounds), Dylan Zapolski (2 points, 5 rebounds), and Caiden Grimmer (2 points, 3 rebounds). 

This was a rematch of last season’s CIF North Coast Section Division 2 final and CIF Northern California Regional Division 3 final, where Marin Catholic won both games. Oddly enough, the rematch was very different as many of the players on the court weren’t there when the teams met twice last March. 

The Wildcats (0-2) kept this game very close the whole time. They started the second quarter with a couple of baskets to tie the game at 8. They also had their own 6-0 scoring run, which cut their deficit to three late in the game. 

Justin-Siena will be back in action again on Saturday at 2 pm against Salesian College Preparatory-Richmond.