College of the Canyons uses big second half run, doing little things right to beat Napa Valley

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By Kyle Foster

kfost91197@gmail.com

Twitter/X: @NapaKyle @NapaSportsNews

Basketball is a game that can be made simple. But when you overcomplicate things and make the easy things hard, it’s going to be hard to win. 

In a Monday afternoon matinee, this was the difference as the College of Canyons from Santa Clarita beat Napa Valley, 80-72. 

Canyons (8-6) took their biggest lead in the second half when they reeled off 11 unanswered points to go up 48-37. They sped the game up, which led to turnovers as well. 

However, Napa Valley (4-8) clawed its way back into the game with a nice 13-0 run, which put them down 53-52. At this point, the Storm were utilizing the press to speed up the game and force the Cougars to make some bad decisions. 

“We applied more pressure, and when we did, we sped them up a little bit, and they took some shots that were just a little bit faster than they’re used to, and so the percentages go down,” Napa Valley College head coach Steve Ball said of the run to get back into the game. “But yeah, we made a nice run there because we were running and jumping at half court, and they were taking quick, ill-advised shots.” 

But if there’s one thing that cost Napa Valley the most in the game, it was free-throw shooting. They finished the contest with just 16 of 27 and missed 8 of them in the second half of the contest. They also had a hard time grabbing rebounds at key times, which led to some extra possessions for Canyons. 

“My concern is that we lost a game because of simpler things, right?” Ball explained. “It was just who wants to rebound the basketball with two hands, who wants to make a free throw?” 

One of the main reasons the Storm were in the game the whole time is the fact that they spread the wealth around on offense. After all, four players ended the contest with double-digit points. 

On top of that, they ended with a pair of players with 17 points to lead the team. One of them was sophomore E’Jay Rogers, who finished with 17 points and 2 rebounds. He started the game on fire by making all four shots from the three-point line and scored 14 points total in the opening half of the game. Rogers also made 1 of 2 free throws in the game. 

The other player was freshman Andrew Degirolamo, who ended the game with 17 points and 5 rebounds. He scored 15 points in the second half while also making 3 of 5 free throws in the contest. 

“Andrew played well,” Ball added. “He had a really good game against Skyline as well. I feel like when he can, when he’s plays a little bit more aggressively and is willing to take some shots,  I think it really opens things up for everybody else. He’s a good passer, so I think sometimes he leans on that too much, and when he’s more aggressive, it not only makes him more of a threat to score, obviously, but it also makes his passes more open because now people are more worried about him and not worried about their own.” 

Also in double-figures was freshman Rusell Gibson, who ended with 13 points in the game. He scored 7 points in the second half and made 3 of 5 shots from the line.

Rounding out the Storm’s key scorers in the game was freshman AJ Loustau. He ended the game with 12 points and 7 rebounds. He scored 7 points in the first half and made 6 of 10 free throws. 

Others scoring in the game for NVC were AJ McCoy (5 points, 2 rebounds), Ryan Rice (3 points, 2 rebounds), Kieran Mannion (3 points), and Kenneth Brown (2 points, 5 rebounds). 

This was the final tune-up for the Storm before they begin Bay Valley Conference play on Thursday at 7 pm when they visit College of Marin.