SAN RAMON, Calif. - The East Bay Athletic League opener proved to be much like the rest of this season so far, as San Ramon Valley's girls basketball team overwhelmed Granada, 73-28, in the league opener on Friday night, improving to 14-1 overall this year.
The Lady Wolves worked their strong defense from the beginning, pressing full court each time Granada was in possession under the Wolves basket. The impenetrable determination of players like senior Breanne Bruschke helped make the pressing defense tactic successful and forced many turnovers throughout the game. Meanwhile, veteran leader Audrey Bastin led the team in scoring, dropping in a game-high 23 points.
“Forcing turnovers helped us win the game," said junior guard Anne Marie Santich. "Not only that, but our full court press that we put forward helped really set the tone for us in the beginning of the game and carried us through the rest of it.”
The starting unit of Paige Gerhart, Bastin, Santich, Bruschke and Claire Pasco all started out with an energy and mindset that really seemed to rub off onto the other players. Offensively, San Ramon Valley seemed to find the most success with a “pass and go” style set up. This offense was best displayed for the Wolves in the second quarter, when they subbed in five talented freshmen who were also able to execute this style of offense perfectly.
One of the freshmen, Seren Nebres, was especially outstanding on both ends of the court with six points and numerous stops on the defensive side for her team. Despite getting into the bonus on foul calls in the first half, the Wolves came back out in the second half with the same committed drive that they began with.
"The key was keeping everyone on the team involved and motivated,” said Bastin. “Defense leads to offense for us and really allowed the team to pull forward from the start of this game.”
That defense allowed the Wolves to open the game with a 16-4 run in the first quarter, and extend the lead to 35-13 by halftime. The defensive pressure again resulted in a big offensive explosion in the third quarter, resulting in a 55-20 lead heading into the final quarter.
Granada (5-10, 0-1) was led by freshman Maddie Braswell, who had a team-high 10 points in the loss.
San Ramon Valley returns to action on Jan. 8 against Foothill, while Granada faces Amador Valley on the same night.
