NVC women's basketball short-handed in loss to Solano Community College
Photos by Marty James
By MARTY JAMES
The Napa Valley College women's basketball team took a five-game winning streak into Wednesday night's Bay Valley Conference game against first-place Solano Community College-Fairfield, one of the top teams in Northern California.
"We had been playing really well," coach Paul DeBolt said. "We've been competing. We beat a couple of good teams. We won a couple of real tough road games. We're OK. We're going to be all right."
Napa Valley also went into the game short-handed, with just six players. Rose Jamison, a unanimous first-team All-Bay Valley Conference selection last year, has not played since NVC's Storm Surge III tournament in early December and is applying for a medical redshirt. Hadieh Gallegos has left the team due to a personal matter, DeBolt said. Jordyn Allen was unavailable for the Storm, but will return to the team for Friday's game at College of Marin-Kentfield.
With all of that said, the Storm was ahead at the end of the first quarter, 16-15, and took a four-point lead early in the second quarter, 19-15, as Alicia Johnson connected on a 3-point shot.
"I think it was pretty obvious. Just look at it and see what happened. We're not as big as them. We're not as deep as them. We made some 3's early, and then we just stopped scoring. Hats off to them. They did a really good job," said DeBolt.
Playing at home for the first time since Dec. 21, Napa Valley got 13 points from Daralonie Sykes and 12 points from Brooklyn Giles in a 74-41 loss to Solano.
The Storm got off to a good start early on, thanks to a 10-0 run.
Solano (14-6 overall, 6-0 Bay Valley) extended its winning streak to eight in a row.
Napa Valley (9-10 overall, 3-2 Bay Valley), which is fourth place in the conference standings, was behind at halftime 35-24 and was trailing 57-32 going into the fourth quarter.
"It's just about making shots. That's what basketball is – getting better shots and making shots. And (Solano) did a really good job of taking good shots away from us. They played very well. It's a very nice team.
"Solano did a very good job of matching up with us and contesting shots. Contested shots are going to be harder to make."
Sykes was 4-of-8 shooting from the field, 5-of-9 from the free-throw line, and had five rebounds and three steals.
Giles had 10 rebounds, four assists and three blocked shots.
Also, scoring for the Storm was Aaliyah Gaitan, with six points; Johnson, with six points, five rebounds and two steals; and Kamilah Tiongco, with three points.
Bella Merritt had two assists.
"Going down from seven to six (players) is difficult, because it's just more minutes. There's less flexibility, defensively. What we've been able to do is really kind of slow people's roll and keep teams under 60, which will allow us to be in games. We couldn't do that with six players tonight. We were smaller.
"Solano did a nice job. They're the best team in the conference right now."
Napa Valley shot 26.5 percent from the field (13-of-49), 21.7 percent from the 3-point line (5-of-23), and 55.5 percent from the free-throw line (10-of-18). The Storm had 28 rebounds, nine assists, seven steals and four blocked shots.
"We did the best we could," said DeBolt. "Everybody's doing the best they can. They all played hard. Lonie had a great game. Brooklyn is a great player. She's really come a long way this year. I'm so proud of her."
Jamison averaged 15.8 points, 8.9 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game last year. Jamison had surgery on her left knee on Aug. 16. Jamison was named to the California Community College Women's Basketball Coaches Association 2022-23 All-Academic Team, the California Community College Athletic Association announced in a report, at www.cccaasports.org, on Nov. 10.
Solano shot 41.6 percent from the field (32-of-77), 18.5 percent from the 3-point line (5-of-27), and 71.4 percent from the free-throw line (5-of-7). The Falcons had 57 rebounds, 21 assists, seven steals and two blocked shots.
Eight players scored for Solano, which was led by Ale Ibarra with 19 points and 12 rebounds, Amari Mason with 16 points and nine rebounds, Alliyah Hayes with 11 points, six rebounds and six assists, Jade Dickson with nine points, seven rebounds and six assists, Julia Wright with 11 rebounds and six assists, and Ella Gervasoni with seven points and three assists.
"They're a good team," DeBolt said of the Falcons. "They played really well. It's one of the better teams they've had."
* 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.