Lola Martin shoots a free throw for Sonoma Valley | Michael Baribault |
SONOMA, Calif - Sonoma Valley avenged an earlier loss to Petaluma to grab a 33-29 win over their Vine Valley Athletic League rivals on Thursday night.
The Dragons (8-12, 4-4) outscored Petaluma 16-5 in the fourth quarter en route to the victory. Sonoma went on a 7-0 run to start the fourth quarter to tie the game. Jovana Soldana stepped inside the three-point line to start things, then Kennedy Midgley hit a three, and Chelsey Crespo hit a 15-foot jumper to tie things up at 24 apiece.
“The girls really wanted it, and they left it all out there on the court with their defense and intensity,” said Sonoma Valley coach Bella Bollman, who is stepping in during the absence of head coach Jann Thorpe due to a family conflict. “They wanted it for each other.”
From there, it was Midgley dropping in three more points, then Saldana hitting a pair of free throws. Petaluma cut the deficit to two when Sheriene Arikat hit one of two from the free throw line, but Lola Martin hit a basket to put the Dragons up four, and effectivley ended the game.
“The bench was ready, and it was an amazing comeback. They knew the score and were smart on offense,” said Bollman.
Petaluma (13-7, 3-4) started off on the right foot. Rose Nevin and Arikat got them on the board with one basket each. Their defense was outstanding early on, holding the Dragons to very minimal shot attempts.
Sonoma finally scored when Sophie Lucchetti hit a three with 3:36 left in the quarter. It would be their only basket of the period as Taylor Iacopi and Arikat would finish out the scoring, with Iacopi making a nice attack move for an easy left hand lay in.
The second period belonged to Sonoma Valley. Midgley and Saldana were the perpritrators, scoring eight of the 10 points in the quarter to put Sonoma Valley ahead at the break.
Petaluma was only able to muster four points in the half, two on Nevin free throws, and the other two on another Iacopi finish at the rim. In between all that it was physical, tough defense by both teams, and the score heading in the half read that Sonoma Valley held a 13-12 lead.
“Defense was cluth tonight. Kaliyah Hensic, she was amazing defensivley. Jo (Saldana), who hurt her arm and came back into the game to hit a big shot. Chelsey (Crespo) hit an amazing shot and it brought us back into the game.” stated Bollman after the game.
It was then Petaluma’s turn to dominate a quarter, this one, the third quarter. Arikat, and Paris Buchanan dropping in baskets. Saldana kept the Dragons right in the mix, stepping inside the three point line for a short corner basket.
Petaluma would then go on a 6-0 run to break things open. Iacopi knocked home two at the charity stripe, Nevin grabbed an offensive rebound, and went back up strong for another bucket, and Arikat and Cameron Ayers split free throws to build the 24-17 advantage after three quarters of play.
Jovanna Saldana and Kennedy Midgely had 12 points each for Sonoma Valley.
Rose Nevin led Petaluma with 10 points, Sheriene Arikat scoring 8 points Taylor Iacopi adding in 6 points
Sonoma Valley will travel to Napa to take on Vintage next Tuesday.
Petaluma hosts Vintage on Saturday night, then facing Casa Grande on Tuesday.
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