By MARTY JAMES martyjames.sports@gmail.com
Brooklyn Giles remembered exactly what coach Paul DeBolt had to say before the Napa Valley College women's basketball team's season-opening game on Wednesday night.
"He just talked about execution. We have to stay disciplined, especially with the low numbers that we have. Discipline is key," said Giles, a sophomore guard for the Storm. "He was just making sure we stay locked in and knowing our defensive and offensive assignments." With only six available players, Napa Valley began the 2023-24 season in spectacular fashion, executing at a very high level on both offense and defense, getting scoring and rebounding from everyone, and extending its lead to a 32-point advantage in the third quarter.
Giles had one of her best all-around games for Napa Valley, scoring 30 points and getting 28 rebounds, as the host Storm beat Sacramento City College, 70-45.
Napa Valley (1-0 overall) was dominating in all areas – scoring, working its offense, rebounding, defending, playing with great energy and effort.
"We were more disciplined. And it definitely showed on the court," said Giles, who was 10-of-25 shooting and 9-of-9 from the free-throw line.
Giles also had seven assists and five steals.
"She is elite," said DeBolt. "Brooklyn worked all offseason to remake her game. She's spectacular. She's a total basketball player. And you can see it. It was just on display. She can finish with both hands in many different ways, off one foot, two feet. She can make 3's now. She's always been a pretty good mid-range player, so she can deliver at all three levels. And defensively, she's outstanding."
Giles was very good last year for Napa Valley, as she was All-Bay Valley Conference unanimous first-team and was also the Storm's Defensive Player of the Year after averaging 12.0 points, 9.8 rebounds, 2.4 assists per game.
"I've gotten a lot better this offseason," said Giles. "I put in a lot of hours, and I just tried to get better. It's not easy. A lot of work.
"I know that as a sophomore, I'm coming back out to be a leader. I'm going to have to lead by example. That's what I'm trying to do."
Giles got the Storm going early on, as Napa Valley was ahead 20-8 in the first quarter. The Storm went on a 20-0 run in the second quarter and led at halftime, 45-18.
DeBolt said NVC is hoping that Rose Jamison, a returning starter, will be back within a month. Jamison, a sophomore guard, had surgery on her left knee on Aug. 16. She was a unanimous first-team All-Bay Valley Conference selection last year.
"It's always a challenge to have fewer than seven players," said DeBolt. "With six, anything can happen. Basketball is a physical game. Things can happen during the game. We're working hard in our prep and our game preparation before the game. We're trying to teach them how to prepare to play games and get in the right mindset. All of those things that are important at this level."
Napa Valley tied a program record with 19 wins in a single season last year. After taking third place in the Bay Valley Conference, the Storm advanced to the California Community College Athletic Association Championships, going 1-1 in the tournament. NVC, the No. 18 seed, won its first playoff game in school history, beating College of the Siskiyous, 92-80, in a Round 1 game in the Northern California Regionals in Weed.
On Wednesday, NVC was also missing Kamilah Tiongco, a freshman guard, who is out with a concussion, and Bella Merritt, a sophomore guard, who was not able to play due to what DeBolt said was a personal matter.
"We're low on numbers this year. So, we really need to pick it up – that extra gear," said Giles. "We need to find that energy within ourselves, so that we can create it as a team since we're low on numbers. I think that's just one of the really big things we talked about before the game. So going into the game, we knew that's what we had to do, and we came out and executed. It just goes to show how much heart we have."
Sacramento City has 12 players listed on its roster.
"I definitely can feel that we're the underdogs in the gym. So, I'm just making that statement, that we have six players and we can still get this 'W.' I know exactly who we are," said Giles. "I know how we play. Heart over height. Whoever wants it more. It doesn't matter how many people you have. We know that we need to want it more than these other teams. And that's what we did."
Napa Valley started Giles, Aaliyah Gaitan, Jordyn Allen, Hadieh Gallegos and Daralonie Sykes in the season opener. The Storm shot 32.5 percent from the field (25-of-77), 26.9 percent from 3-point range (7-of-26), and 76.5 percent at the free-throw line (13-of-17). They had 17 assists and 11 turnovers.
"I think everybody just kind of fell in place in the game – the flow of the game had that going," said Giles. "Everybody's role just like fell into place and we just executed perfectly. We just have to stay locked in and keep the same energy the whole season. We need everybody to contribute in some way, shape or form."
Alicia Johnson came off the bench to score 15 points on five 3-pointers, including a 3-point basket at the buzzer to end the first quarter. Johnson also had seven rebounds and two assists.
Gallegos scored 10 points and had four rebounds.
Allen had eight points, 12 rebounds and two assists.
Gaitan had five points and Sykes had three rebounds, five assists and three steals.
"We got some good steals and converted and we made some 3's. We got to the free-throw line. So, those are the three things you really need to do – get lay-ups, make 3's and get to the free-throw line. And we did that," DeBolt said.
"We were mixing it up and defensively, we kind of had them off balance a little bit."
DeBolt called it an exciting win.
"We prepare and do the best we can," said DeBolt. "Kids rose to the occasion. We knew we couldn't get in foul trouble and we knew we just had to rotate.
"This is a heady group. We've got some veterans. We've got some kids who know how to play basketball. And there's good role players on the team. So, it's a really good start for us. And we need the other kids back. We need eight or nine. It's hard to play with six. But I thought we did a good job tonight of not being overly aggressive defensively, and for taking what they would give us on offense.
"I'll say that for this group, because we've struggled to have numbers in practice, we haven't gotten that much scrimmage time in. So, it was nice for them, the way they responded.
"This team, they can all play. They all have strengths. We're trying to teach them to play to their strengths, develop the things they need to get stronger at and play together and show effort."
Sacramento City was led by Samaya Beatty with 10 points, Isabella Whitehead and Aliviyah McMurray each with eight points, and Bella Bouyer with six points.
CCCWBCA State Top 25 Preseason Poll
The California Community College Women's Basketball Coaches Association announced on Oct. 31, at www.cccaasports.org, its State Preseason Top 25 Coaches Poll and North Region Preseason Poll.
There are nine Northern California teams listed:
No. 3 Butte-Oroville, No. 5 San Joaquin Delta-Stockton, No. 7 Santa Rosa, No. 8 Sierra-Rocklin, No. 11 City College of San Francisco, No. 12 Laney-Oakland, No. 18 Folsom Lake, No. 22 San Jose City, No. 24 Chabot-Hayward.
Two Bay Valley Conference teams are listed in the North Region poll:
No. 8 Laney, No. 14 Solano.
* Marty James is a freelance writer who makes his home in Napa. He retired on June 4, 2019 after spending 40 years as a sports writer, sports editor and executive sports editor for the Napa Valley Register, a daily newspaper in Napa County. He is a 1979 graduate of Sacramento State and a member of the California Golf Writers & Broadcasters Association. He was inducted into the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Hall of Fame in 2016, the Vintage High School Athletic Hall of Fame in 2019, and the Napa High School Athletic Hall of Fame in 2022.