Farrington's 28-point game leads NVC men's basketball to win over Solano Community College
Photos by Marty James
By MARTY JAMES
Chris Farrington talked about being in a slump to start the month of February.
There was the five points that he scored on Feb. 5 in a game against Los Medanos College-Pittsburg.
There was the four points that he had in a game on Feb. 7 against Contra Costa College-San Pablo.
"I've kind of been in a slump, personally, for my team," said Farrington, a sophomore guard for the Napa Valley College men's basketball team. "lt's gaining that confidence back in practice. My coaches and teammates never stop believing in me."
Farrington had one of his best games of the season on Friday, Feb. 14. He scored 28 points on 10-of-16 shooting from the field to lead Napa Valley in its 91-73 Bay Valley Conference win over Solano Community College-Fairfield.
"It feels great tonight, just to have a great game and try to finish this season as strong as I can," said Farrington. "My guys, they never stop believing in me. I love this group. I really have fun playing with them."
It's Farrington's second-highest point total of the season.
He is averaging 13.6 points per game on 39.8 percent shooting from the field, 5.3 rebounds and 4.7 assists per game.
"That's the most shots he's taken in a few weeks," said Storm head coach Steve Ball. "When Chris is aggressive like that, it makes the game so much easier for everybody else. So now, instead of shooting a shot with two feet of space, you're shooting a shot with five feet of space, and that's just such a different level of pressure on the basketball."
Farrington had six rebounds and four assists in 34 minutes. He was also 7-of-9 from the free-throw line and made a perfect pass to Jamari Taylor on a second-half dunk shot.
"On Jamai's dunk, that happened because everybody's watching Chris, and he just threw it up to the rim. They made eye contact, and they communicated well," said Ball. "When he does that, the game is so much easier for everybody else. When he goes with the intent of racking it and scoring at the rim … now we're getting much better shots, higher percentage shots."
Farrington was one of four players in double-figure scoring for Napa Valley (4-22 overall, 3-11 Bay Valley), which is in eighth place in the conference, with two games to go during the 2024-25 regular season.
"Tonight, it just all clicked," said Farrington. "Something told me, just keep going. It makes my job easy when I've got other guys contributing, getting buckets, because it takes the pressure off of me. Just seeing my guys do good, it makes me happy and I enjoy it."
Naajy Bynum-Bey scored 19 points on 7-of-16 shooting from the field. He was 2-of-6 from the 3-point line and was 3-of-4 at the free-throw line. He had nine rebounds and two steals in 30 minutes.
"We said it a couple games ago. When he plays with energy, that's the 'X' factor for us," said Ball.
Hassan Flemming scored 12 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the field. He had six rebounds, two assists and three steals in 25 minutes.
"He's got such an amazing elevation on his mid-range jump shot," said Ball. "It was free-throw line jumper, free-throw line jumper. Fifteen-foot jumper from the baseline, one after another. He can shoot that really well."
Jayden Robinson scored 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting from the field and 2-of-3 from the 3-point line. He had seven rebounds in 21 minutes.
Napa Valley pushed the ball and pace of play and was very active around the basket, defending and rebounding and getting out and contesting shots. The Storm got out to 53-48 lead at halftime.
"We really did accelerate the ball offensively," said Ball. "I thought that we did a great job on the glass. That's one of our keys to victory tonight that we talked about beforehand, was second chances – get to the rim and then follow in. Guys like Nate (Broome) and Caedom (Lain) and Hassan and Naajy and E'Jay (Rogers) had length advantages."
In a very high-scoring first half, it was Farrington leading the way, scoring 21 points, Bynum-Bey scoring 11 points, and Flemming scoring eight points.
"I feel like in that first half … (Solano) had about eight to 12 of those (points) on just miscommunications, on who was getting the deepest man. And they went bang, bang. A few too many points, in my opinion, for an easy transition," said Ball.
"I thought we did a good job in the half court."
Also, contributing for the Storm, which snapped a three-game losing streak:
* Rogers: five points on 2-of-3 shooting from the field and two assists in 19 minutes.
* Jerard Jackson: four points in nine minutes.
* Taylor: four points on 2-of-2 shooting from the field in 16 minutes.
* CJ Mitchell: three points in eight minutes.
* Broome: three points, six rebounds and two blocked shots in 31 minutes.
* Lain: three points and two rebounds in 11 minutes.
It's the best that Napa Valley has looked on offense all season, said Ball.
"I just want to give credit to Coach Ball, just him prepping us every day, pushing us to make sure we're running the right offense, in the right spot," said Farrington. "I give all credit to him, and my teammates, them being in the right spots and just opening the lane for me into easy baskets."
Farrington scored 33 points, a season-high, in a nonconference game against Sacramento City College in November. He had 28 points against Santa Rosa Junior College in a nonconference game in November.
Napa Valley expanded on its halftime lead, going on a 14-0 run and taking an 82-56 lead in the second half.
"We never give up. One thing about Coach Ball's team, they play hard. And I give credit to this team as well. We have two games left. We're still working. Even though we're not going to the playoffs, we're still fighting, no matter what. We go play to the end, no matter what. It just shows our love for the game," said Farrington.
NVC had six 3-pointers and was 15-of-23 at the free-throw line.
Solano was led by Justiz Wilson with 28 points. Nicko Ignacio and Ray Holt each had 14 points.
The loss was the seventh in a row for Solano (6-20 overall, 2-13 Bay Valley).
There are two games to go for the Storm.
They play at College of Marin-Kentfield on Tuesday, Feb. 18 at 5:30 p.m.
They conclude the season with "Sophomore Night" at home on Thursday, Feb. 20 against Yuba College-Marysville at 5:30 p.m. Farrington and the team's sophomore class will be honored.
"It's just a milestone in my life," said Farrington. "I'm forever grateful for Napa Valley. I wouldn't change it for the world."
* 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.