MICHAEL BARIBAULT
Prep2Prep Senior Editor

January 2, 2020

The final day of the first annual Trojan Classic was unlike the traditional format. The boys champion was crowned in the second game, while the girls champion was crowned in the third game. Let’s see who brought home the hardware from Petaluma:

Girls: Santa Rosa gets by Foothill-Sacramento

Santa Rosa and Foothill both struggled to score early. It was the second game in a row the Panthers started off slow shooting the ball. The score was a mere 6-4 Santa Rosa after one period.

Santa Rosa put up a 10-3 quarter to create a little separation, but not much as the Mustangs still continued to play hard, trailing 35-22 at the end of three in one of their closer games so far this season. Santa Rosa finally pulled away with the hot three point shooting of Mia Locks for a 49-28 win. Locks and Kamaren Codding each had 11 points for Santa Rosa

Boys: Rancho Cotate steadily beats Elsie Allen

The first of three matchups between NBL-Redwood foes stayed tight for the majority of the game. Elsie Allen’s grit and scrappy play kept them doen six at the half, and eight after three. Rancho Cotate would get hot beyong the arc, with Tournament MVP Andrew Pengel hitting four of eight three point field goals to pace the Cougars 58-47 win.

Pengel would finish with 22 points, and would have 20+ points in every game of the tournament. Malik Roby had 13 points along with Pengel, and Alejandro Ramos had his best showing of the tournament for Elsie Allen, scoring 15 points.

Girls: Petaluma blows past St Vincent de Paul

Petaluma got a big game from team leader and most outstanding player Sheriene Arikat to lead them to a 56-39 win over their neighbors from the Northwest side of town. Petaluma jumped out to a 19-5 lead after one, 33-14 lead at the half and a 46-17 lead after three. Benches were cleared on both sides, with everyone getting some playing time. A few nice plays from Maddie Badaglia from St Vincent de Paul and Mallory O’Keefe brought some life back into the game. Arikat led all scorers with 24 points.

Boys: Petaluma’s hot shooting zooms them past Capuchino-San Bruno

Petaluma made 10 shots from beyond the arc in the first half to pace them to a 37-11 halftime lead. The love was spread around the team with shots coming from Esteban Bermudez, Matt Bamsteiger, Reece Lakritz, and Cole Garzoli.

The hot shooting continued for the Trojans in the second half with Ivan Cortes and Ryan Giacomini getting in on the action. Noah Tunkett was the lone bright spot for Capuchino. He dropped in 12 points for the Mustangs, who have now suffered their 4th straight loss, all to North Bay teams. Garzoli and Ryan Sullivan led the way for Petaluma, scoring 12 points each.

Boys All Tournament Team:

MVP: Andrew Pengel (Rancho Cotate)

All Tourney:

Issac Candelaria (Rancho Cotate)

D’Angelo Leon (Elsie Allen)

Esteban Bermudez (Petaluma)

Nico Curuso (Capuchino)

Girls All Tournament team (No MVP)

Sheriene Arikat (Petaluma)

Alessandra Ditizio (St Vincent de Paul)

Kamaren Codding (Santa Rosa)

Naveah Hughes (Foothill.

Next games for the following teams on the boys side:

Petaluma hosts Armijo-Fairfield on January 4th

Rancho Cotate travels to San Rafael on January 2nd

Capuchino travels to Jefferson-Daly City on January 3rd

Elsie Allen begins league play at El Molino on January 8th.

Next games for the following teams on the girls side:

Petaluma begins VVAL play hosting Sonoma Valley on January 8th

St Vincent plays BCL opponent Marin Academy on January 3rd

Foothill hosts Bear River on January 15th to open up Pioneer Valley League Play

Santa Rosa travels to Windsor to open up NBL-Oak play on January 8th