LAFAYETTE, Calif. – San Ramon Valley coach John Cristiano admitted his team didn’t play their best ball, in particular on the boards, but Paige Gerhart and Anne Marie Santich again proved their mettle as the most important veterans currently suiting up to highlight a 72-64 victory at Acalanes on Wednesday night.
Gerhart scored 31 points to go along with six rebounds and five assists, and Santich dropped in five treys and scored 18 points for San Ramon Valley (5-1). The Wolves rarely trailed in the contest, had a lead from the latter part of the first quarter until the final buzzer, and notched it up to double digits at several junctures of the game, including at halftime (40-30) and at the end of third (60-50).
But Acalanes (5-2) refused to go away. The Dons got as close as 44-40 before Santich nailed a couple of three’s and Gerhart followed suit a second before the third quarter buzzer. Gerhart and Santich were also major cogs in a mini-run to end the first quarter, with Gerhart getting five points and an assist on one of two threes by Santich.
“Defensively we still need some work,” Acalanes coach Michelle Sasaki said. “We really needed to control tempo earlier to get twos instead of threes.”
Acalanes had a few standout performances of their own. Lauren Kobashigawa and Lauren Frenchman tallied 18 points and 17 points, respectively, with six combined three-pointers. Kaylee Pond - the reigning DAL-Valley Player of the Year for girls basketball and the Prep2Prep NCS Junior of the Year for softball last spring - registered 11 points, seven rebounds, and six assists. Grace Gebhardt collected 14 rebounds to pair with her 10 points. The Dons roughly tripled the Wolves' on the boards.
“We were unable to rebound efficiently,” San Ramon Valley coach John Cristiano said. “That’s not normal for us. We’re glad to go home with a win but we have work to do.”
San Ramon Valley had two more three-pointers than the Dons and tied them in free throws made. The Wolves had just five free throw attempts in the first half versus 19 in the second.
“As they were starting to come out on our shooters (so) we wanted to get more fouls against them…and get to the line,” Gerhart said, adding that Audrey Bayston and Natalie Pasco’s absences create a greater challenge to contain the glass.
Cristiano also noted he is eagerly awaiting the return of Bayston and Pasco, the team's top two per game scorers from last season. Both are expected back within a month.
San Ramon Valley was coming off its first loss of the season, a 55-42 defeat at the hands of Cardinal Newman in that school’s tournament final.
“The other girls are getting good experience,” Cristiano added. “We’re going to be okay.”
