SONOMA, Calif - The final game of the first round of Vine Valley Athletic League play concluded matters Friday night, with Sonoma Valley defeating Casa Grande 65-55.
Sonoma Valley (12-8, 4-2) went on an 11-0 run in the third quarter to turn a 35-32 lead into a 46-32 lead in a matter of a few minutes.
Riley Phelan started the run with a bucket, and ended the run with a bucket, both in transition. Anders Mathison hit a three, and Reed Hewitt had two baskets, also in transition to build the Dragon lead. Dom McHale would knock down a pair of free throws and Tai Grant would drop in a bucket each to pull the score to 46-38 Dragons after three quarters of play.
“I thought we forced Casa into some mistakes. We wanted to have good screen communication. This is what really enhanced our defense,” said Sonoma Valley coach Mike Boles. “I think they got a little fatigued midway through the third period and our paced helped that.”
Phelan would score 11 of his 16 points in the second half.
“We just revisited what was on the board. We got back to what we feel we do well and that’s get out in transition,” Boles added.
The game started out back and forth, with a quick pace. Luke Sendaydiego started off the night hitting four free throws. Ryan McGuinn got the Gauchos on the board with a bucket inside. The teams traded scores until Tory Cain took it upon himself to score a quick five points to give Casa a brief one point lead.
The teams would then trade buckets, until Phelan closed out the quarter with a three point play, the old fashoned way to give Sonoma a 16-15 edge after one.
Casa Grande (5-14, 2-4) took a 20-16 lead on a McGuinn three and Colin Pachett basket. Sonoma Valley went on an 8-0 run in the second quarter, led by Dom Girsh scoring seven of the points, including the last ones on a three.
Casa Grande would make a run of their own, with Cain hitting another three to finish his first half with eight points. Rashad Nixon dropped in a bucket, and a free throw. Concluding the 8-0 run was Grant hitting a floater to give the Gauchos their four point lead back.
The period finished with buckets in succession from Sonoma Valley’s Rollo Benstead, Mathison, and Phelan. Nixon had a put back basket just a few seconds before the buzzer to get Casa Grande back to within two at 32-30 Dragons at the intermission.
Girish began the Sonoma Valley fourth quarter taking a nice pass from Phelan for an easy lay up. Sonny Gigliotti hit his first three of night night for Casa Grande, followed by another nice play inside by McGuinn for a bucket to cut the Gaucho deficit down to seven. Mathison hit another three, followed by Phelan again running the floor for an easy lay up.
The teams traded baskets for the most part the rest of the game. Casa Grande would never get closer than seven points the rest of the night. Late baskets by the Gauchos came from Cain, Gigliotti, both on three’s, and Grant. Mathison sealed the game with his old fashoned three point play in the final minutes of the game.
Sonoma Valley will host Napa on Wednesday, before their showdown with what seems to be a growing rivalry, hosting Petaluma on Friday.
“You can’t look ahead in this league. We gotta take care of business on Wednesday, otherwise it doesn’t matter. We really have to take it one day at a time,” Boles said. “I really like our league. You gotta play good basketball every night to win, and you can never expect to show up and win without playing good basketball. ”
Casa Grande will travel to Napa to take on second place Vintage on Wednesday night. The Crushers and Sonoma Valley are now tied for second place after Vintage fell to American Canyon 60-56.
