By MARTY JAMES martyjames.sports@gmail.com

With Brooklyn Giles scoring 26 points and Daralonie Sykes scoring 24 points, the Napa Valley College women's basketball team concluded the 2023-2024 regular season, defeating host Yuba College, 75-65, in a Bay Valley Conference game in Marysville on Thursday night. Napa Valley (16-12 overall, 10-4 Bay Valley Conference) ends the regular season on a two-game winning streak. Next for the Storm, which finishes the conference in third place, is the California Community College Athletic Association Northern California Regional playoffs, which start on Wednesday, Feb. 28.

Giles was 12-of-14 shooting from the field and also had 13 rebounds, five assists and seven steals.

Sykes was 9-of-20 shooting from the field and also had nine rebounds, six assists and two steals.

Napa Valley took a 20-15 lead in the first quarter and was also ahead at halftime, 37-26. The Storm was in front, 55-46 at the end of the third quarter.

Kamilah Tiongco scored 15 points, including three 3-pointers. She also had four rebounds, three assists and two steals.

Bella Merritt scored five points. She also had five rebounds, two assists and four steals.

Aaliyah Gaitan had three points and two rebounds. Jordyn Allen had 10 rebounds and five assists.

Alicia Johnson had two rebounds.

Napa Valley shot 43.9 percent from the field (29-of-66), 25.0 percent from 3-point range (4-of-16), and 48.1 percent from the free-throw line (13-of-27).

The Storm had 47 rebounds, 21 assists and 16 steals.

NVC will be going to the CCCAA NorCal regional playoffs for the second year in a row. A seeding meeting is scheduled for Sunday, Feb. 25. The field will consist of 24 teams.

Napa Valley is 7-3 over its last 10 games.

* 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.