Napa Valley starts fast to roll past Lassen in final game of calendar year

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By Kyle Foster

kfost91197@gmail.com

Twitter/X: @NapaKyle @NapaSportsNews 

There are some games where the opponent doesn’t so much matter, and it’s more about what you do. Sure, you can call them a layup since we are talking about basketball here. 

On Tuesday night at Storm Gym, this was the case as the Napa Valley College women ended the calendar year with an 84-51 rout of Lassen-Susanville.  

The Storm (11-3) never trailed in the contest. They scored the first 8 points of the game before ending the first quarter with a commanding 27-7 lead. Napa Valley also led 48-16 at the break of this one, which all but put the game out of reach. 

Another key part of this game was that Napa Valley showed how deep its offense can be, thanks to the fast start. 

“I think we’re, we’re not really looking for balance as much as we’re looking for good shots,” Napa Valley College head coach Paul DeBolt pointed out. “That’s been the emphasis all year. We’re not a great offensive team, but we’re not bad, and I think we’re in the upper half, maybe the upper third in the state offensively. But what we are trying to do is get good shots and work the basketball. We took better care of the basketball tonight.” 

In the game, the Storm had four players end the night with double-doubles in scoring. There was also a duo of players who finished with a game-high of 19 points. 

One of them was sophomore guard Jazmine Fontilla. She scored 19 points to go along with 2 rebounds. Fontilla was a force in the first half of the game, where she scored 17 points, and 13 in the first quarter alone. She also made 5 of 7 shots from the free-throw line. 

“It was a night where we needed to get off to a good start, so she just took control early, and we sat her a lot in the second half, which we’re gonna let other people play,” DeBolt explained of Fontilla’s good start. “So she had a great game, but it’s typical for her. She’s so unselfish. She’s going to take the shots that are there for her, and if it’s not there, she’s going to she’s going to dish it.” 

The other player standing out to lead the way was freshman Jazelle Bolton. She did all of her scoring in the paint on the way to a 19-point, 4-rebound performance. Bolton scored 10 points in the second half and made her only free throw.

After that, the next player in double-digits for Napa Valley was sophomore Marticia Pollard. She added 13 points and 5 rebounds in the game. Pollard scored 11 points in the second half and made her only free throw in the game. Between Pollard and Bolton, the Storm have been getting lots of production from their bigs, which is key. 

“That’s the idea, kind of a two-headed monster where they can sub in and out, and they both were ready to play tonight, and they’re coming along,” DeBolt said of the play he got from his post players in the game. “I mean, they’re both pretty good players. They can get up and down the court, but sometimes we, for whatever reason, we don’t get the ball to them, or they’re not aggressive enough once they get the ball, or they’re not aggressive enough asking for the ball. So it was nice to see the team looking for them tonight.” 

Arianna Aguilar rounded out the key scorers for the Storm. The sophomore guard finished with 11 points and 2 rebounds. Aguilar scored 9 points in the first half and made both of her free throws in the game. 

Others scoring for Napa Valley in the game were Amya Sims (6 points), Ashley Torres (5 points, 2 rebounds), Kayla Sanchez (5 points, 1 rebound), Layla Butler (3 points, 2 rebounds), and Janelle Harding (3 points, 2 rebounds). 

This win was key in order to get some momentum going after a loss in their conference opener to Marin. After all, NVC will be heading back into Bay Valley Conference play on Friday at 5 pm when they host Los Medanos-Pittsburg at 5 pm.