PETALUMA - This game was a make up from last Wednesday, but that didn’t slow down Petaluma as they grinded their way to a 72-60 win over visiting rival Sonoma Valley.
With 12 seconds to go, George Tynes got a steal and had his moment to shine with a thunderous LeBron-like slam dunk that sent the Petaluma crowd into a frenzy.
“This will probably be his only shot at it, so I was glad for him. He’s earned it,” said Petaluma coach Scott Behrs.
On the Sonoma Valley side, it was not a happy night as they struggled to shoot from distance all night long.
Sonoma Valley (12-9, 2-5) started off very strong. Dom Girsh scored their first seven points as they went out to a quick 7-0 lead. Eric Perez came back and did the same thing for Petaluma, as it became an 11-7 Sonoma lead after a Petaluma time out.
“Eric (Perez) was big for us tonight. He saved us as that game was just about to get away from us. That was the good Eric you saw tonight,” said Behrs.
It should be noted that Petaluma was without its starting backcourt, as Robbie Isetta and Esteban Bermudez both were sick and were not at the game.
Jack Boydell hit two three’s in row and Sonoma dominated inside early as they raced out to a 19-15 lead after the opening period.
Petaluma (6-13, 3-3) began to heat up from the three point arch as they went 4-of-5 from downtown, with Ryan Sullivan hitting two of those three’s to push Petaluma out to a 30-23 lead. Kenny Alexander came in and scored five quick points off a pair of sets to push the lead to 35-25. With 1.2 seconds on the clock after a Boydell miss, Nicholas Spanger put one in off the glass just in time as the lead was cut to 35-27 at the half.
Tynes came in the game in the third quarter and made an immediate impact. After Sonoma Valley went to a 2-3 zone, Petaluma was able to move the ball very well and found Tynes three times over the quarter for a quick six points, and Ivan Cortes and Garett Gehring hit three’s to pad the Petaluma lead. Boydell had five of Sonoma’s seven points in the quarter, trying to keep them within striking distance, but Petaluma still outscored the Dragons 15-7 in the quarter.
Down by 16 in the final period, Sonoma slowly chipped away at the deficit. Dom Girsh had three steals and two lay in’s, and Riley Phelan hit an elbow jumper to cut it to 10, but Alexander quieted the excited Sonoma fans with a three right back to push the lead back out to 13 for Petaluma. They then got into foul trouble as they stopped the clock for Sonoma to get to the line and hit free throws, and compounded it by turning the ball over. Tynes and Sam Brown helped slow Petaluma down and get out of dodge.
“We needed this win real bad. We got a big two weeks ahead of us. Six games in 10 days isn’t easy but we will be prepared for all of them.” Behrs said.
Petaluma has their back end of their back-to-back tonight when they travel to Napa to face Justin Siena.
Sonoma Valley has their own back-to-back end tonight when they host Casa Grande.
