Napa High closes in on Arco

Napa Valley Register, February 26, 2006

Napa High closes in on Arco

GALT — The Napa High School girls basketball team is one step closer to Arco Arena and a CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division I championship with their 63-45 victory over Golden Valley Saturday afternoon.

In typical Napa High girls basketball fashion, the Indians let their tough pressure defense hound the Golden Valley offense, making it difficult for the Cougars to get any good looks at the basket. Golden Valley still played the Indians tough, but Napa would only allow them to have the lead in the first quarter before coming back and tying it up at 10 apiece with 3:56 left in the first on a Karyn Franco three-point shot.

Franco had all 15 of her points come from outside the arc.

“I’m really happy with the way Karyn played,” head coach Darci Lewis said. “She really stepped it up offensively.”

Nicoletta Geyer (26 points, 11 rebounds) extended the Indians’ lead with two buckets with a minute to go in the first and Lindsey Dreher went underneath for two points of her own, putting Napa up 19-12. Golden Valley’s Laticia Booker hit a jumper at the buzzer to end the first quarter, but Napa had gained the momentum and wouldn’t let it go the rest of the game.

The Indians went on a scoring barrage in the second quarter when Geyer stole the ball and converted for two points. Dreher turned around after that play to steal it again from the Cougars and found Geyer underneath for an easy bucket, increasing Napa’s lead to 23-16 with 6:46 left in the first half.

The Napa defense was at it again when Geyer intercepted a Golden Valley pass and drove it down for a layup 10 seconds later. Cougars’ head coach Matt Thissen called a timeout to try and freeze the Indians’ hot streak but no sooner did the teams get back on the court than Dreher had another steal. Dreher passed to Geyer up top who swung the ball over to Franco for one of her treys, making it 28-16 with just over six minutes to go in the half.

Napa got help from its bench in the form of Nina Pardo (eight points), who hit a jumper inside and followed it up with an offensive board and the put back.

“Nina did a phenomenal job,” Lewis said. “She did an excellent job of boxing out and coming off the bench and scoring when Katie (Keilig) was in foul trouble.”

The Cougars’ Kim Spinardi (22 points) hit a turnaround jumper to get Golden Valley back in the action but the Indians had already pulled too far ahead. Napa closed the first half still on top 35-22.

The Indians didn’t let up in the third quarter and picked right back up where they had left off at halftime with Katie Keilig (nine points, six rebounds, six assists) nailing a long two-point shot just inside the paint. Spinardi followed with one of her four treys but the Indians’ offense would not relinquish.

While the Cougars continued to fight through the second half, Napa kept its scoring cushion which was extended when Pardo got another bucket underneath and Franco scored from the outside again. Pardo followed it up with an intercepted pass and Geyer converted on the play with a bucket to put the Indians up 46-32 with 2:05 left in the third.

Napa’s defense was in typical form again when Keilig intercepted another pass and went back downcourt for the score. The Indians had a 15-point lead, 48-33, going into the final quarter of play.

Even with their lead, the Indians still used the fourth quarter to keep the Cougars at bay with more defense. Heather Gunderson had a steal and found Keilig for the layup.

“Heather had a great game despite not being on with her shooting. She understands the pressure defense and she is a smart and consistent player. We really needed her veteran leadership out there on the court and she definitely stepped up,” Lewis said.

Napa went on to score 15 more points in the fourth quarter to seal its victory over the Cougars.

“I’m really pleased with their performance today,” Lewis said. “We had heard Spinardi was their shooter and (Kelly) Leonardo was also a strong competitor for them so we knew what we were up against. We knew they had a zone defense so we practiced our offense to work around that. We had a great practice to prepare us for this game.”

Napa will face the winner of the Kennedy-Davis match-up on Wednesday at a time still to be determined at University of the Pacific in Stockton.

Vintage makes Napa work for 23-0 record

Napa Valley Register, February 3, 2006

Vintage makes Napa work for 23-0 record

Any fan in attendence at Napa High’s Messner Gymnasium Thursday night definitely got their money’s worth, as the Napa High School girls basketball team extended its win streak with a victory over rival Vintage High School, 57-40.

The Crushers gave the undefeated Indians a scare in the first half, holding Napa scoreless for the first four and a half minutes of play.

Napa finally got on the board with a Karyn Franco free throw, making it 4-1 in favor of the Crushers.

Vintage’s tough defense in the first half, led by Marisa Hatcher, gave the Indians a tough time, but Napa closed the gap in the second quarter after completing the first quarter trailing 13-5.
Vintage’s first-quarter points were the work of Michelle Yeoman and Hatcher with four apiece, as well as three from Jessica Zeller and a bucket from Katie Montez.

Napa turned it up in the second quarter with help from Bonnie Freeland, who put up five points. With 3:42 left in the first half, the Crushers were still ahead 17-11.

“Bonnie had a fantastic first half,” Napa head coach Darci Lewis said. “She played smart defense and pushed the ball to score.”

Freeland hit Vanessa Priest for a quick two points and Freeland followed it up with a three-point shot of her own as the Crushers watched their lead shrink to just one, 17-16. With 55 seconds left to go in the half, Napa ran a motion offense and Franco found Priest to tie the game at 18-18.

Hatcher responded with a bucket of her own and forced up a shot with 30 seconds left, putting the Crushers up 20-18. But with just 3.2 seconds on the clock, Napa’s Lindsey Dreher nailed a buzzer beater to tie it up 20-20 going into the locker room at halftime.

Napa used its mid-game break to stress its defensive approach.

“We talked about our defense and who the key people to cover were,” Lewis said. “We needed to fix our help defense. Vintage had made a lot of adjustments since that last time we faced them and came out ready to play.”

The Indians took their coaches’ words to heart and came out strong in the second half � and looked more like the Napa team of old.

Napa’s defense worked the court at both ends, forcing Vintage turnovers and capitalizing on the mistakes.

“We went into the second half with the mentality that it was a new game since it was 20-20. We knew we needed to go out and play our game,” Freeland said.

The Indians took their first lead of the night when Nicoletta Geyer grabbed a defensive board and went coast to coast for a layup, 22-20.

Katie Keilig turned around and stole the ball from Vintage and took her turn running the length of the court for a bucket.

Geyer’s third-quarter presence on the court carried the Indians’ offense, as the senior posted 14 of her 21 total points in the quarter.

“Nicoletta came out strong in the second half. She was looking to pass but not afraid to look for the three. She was ready to go,” Lewis said.

The Crushers still hung with Napa, as Hatcher added six more points.

But it was the Indians, with the help of Geyer, who widened their lead and closed the third quarter ahead 38-31.

The Indians used the fourth quarter to pull ahead and give themselves their first solid cushion of the night. Dreher opened the fourth with a jumper, putting Napa ahead 40-31. Montez answered back with bucket of her own, but Keilig found Geyer for two Napa points. The Indians inched ahead and with 5:09 left in the contest, Napa was leading 48-35.

Montez and Hatcher did their best to keep their team in the game but the Indians dominated the fourth quarter of play to give them the final edge and their eventual victory.

“The kids played their hearts out,” Vintage coach Dave Holman said. “It’s always frustrating to play the best team in the league without one of your big guns. Napa’s fast break just killed us, but the girls played the best possible game they could have.”

Napa improves to 10-0 in league play (23-0 overall), while Vintage drops to 6-4 in the MEL (13-9 overall).

Vintage JV 53, Napa 46

In junior varsity action, the Crushers bested Napa, again in nail-biting fashion. Vintage had a six-point lead with a minute and a half to go. Napa closed the gap to four on a layup with 42 seconds left. But Vintage hit two final free throws with 12 seconds left to give the Crushers the final advantage over Napa.