PETALUMA, Calif - Petaluma moved to 2-0 in Vine Valley Athletic League play with a convincing 46-31 win over Vintage-Napa on Friday night.
The Trojans held the Crushers to just 11 points at the halfway mark.
“Our defense really stepped up tonight with heart and pride,” said Petaluma Head Coach Anton Lyons. “That enabled us to shut them down.”
The turning point however, was an 8-2 burst by Petaluma late in the first half. With the Trojans up 14-9, they would ride the wave of Ryan Sullivan dropping in the first shot, then Vintage’s Owen Schnaible would knock down a pair of free throws to make that up.
From there, it was the big man Alex Seidler hitting a three, unexpectedly, and getting an extra roar from the crowd, which was almost capacity. At the end of the half, Ryan Sullivan hit a three under 30 seconds to go, which would open up a 24-11 lead.
The game started off slow for both sides. There were no points on the board in two minutes and 30 seconds into the game. That changed when Sullivan hit a three to get the zero off the scoreboard. Cole Garzoli followed it up with a bucket, as well as drawing a foul, and sinking the free throw to give Petaluma a quick 6-0 advantage.
Schnaible got Vintage in the point column with a pair of free throws, and Imani Lopez quickly cut it to a 6-4 game with a jumper from the outside. Lopez would then bring some ooh’s and aahh's to the crowd with an emphatic dunk to keep Vintage close, but Petaluma still held a 10-6 lead after one.
Vintage (8-8, 2-1) scored on another Lopez shot, and Schnaible hitting one of two from the line to cut it to a 10-9 deficit. That is as close Vintage would get. Petaluma rolled off six straight after that, with Ryan Giacomini providing half of those with a three.
Petaluma’s (10-4, 2-0) defense and rebounding would be superb in the third quarter, holding Vintage to just four points. To be fair, Vintage was victim to many rolls around the rim that did not go their way all night long. Missed layups, and dunks also did not help their cause.
“We were able to feed off our defense, and in turn, helped us to rebound,” said Lyons.
Nonetheless, Vintage’s aggressive style of play may have come back to bite them, as Lopez and Loren Castro both had to come out of the game due to foul trouble. This allowed Petaluma to extend their lead, with the help of five different players all scoring. Sullivan continued his hot shooting night with another three ball. Giacomini, Garzoli, Jullian Garrahan, and Liam Gotschall all chipping in, outscoring Vintage 12-4 in the period, and leading 36-15 after three.
“Esteban (Bermudez) stayed after practice for about an hour yesterday helping Ryan (Sullivan) with his shot. They were working on follow through, and if he didn’t do it one time during the game, I told him I was going to take him out. I think that helped him a bit,” Lyons said.
Vintage would have their best stretch of play to start the fourth quarter, Josh Kho began the stanza with a basket. Garzoli missed two straight front ends of one-and-one opportunities, giving Blake Murray a chance to get the Crushers back into it.
A pair of free throws and a three made it a 14 point game, with still six minutes remaining in the game. After Garzoli got a bucket, Murray would hit another three to cut it to 13m but Petaluma would put it to bed, with Eric Perez and Sullivan each hitting three’s, sealing the deal for the Trojans.
Sullivan led the way for Petaluma, scoring 14 points. Murray had nine points for Vintage, with Lopez adding eight points.
Petaluma is on pace for its highest win total since the 2015-2016 season, when they went 19-9 under Scott Behrs, making the NCS Division 2 Playoffs for the first time since 1992. They’ll continue that quest on Saturday for a non league game vs Amador-Sutter Creek, a 5:00 tip. The Buffaloes have won 11 straight games. Petaluma will go back into league next Wednesday, when they go across town to rival Casa Grande-Petaluma.
Vintage will travel to Sonoma Valley on Wednesday night. Last year, Sonoma Valley swept the two-game season series. Both Wednesday night games tip off at 7pm.
