NVC women's basketball sets the tone early, rolls to 80-59 win over Solano
Photos by Marty James
By MARTY JAMES
Napa Valley College got after it right from the start in Friday night's Bay Valley Conference women's basketball game.
The Storm set the tone early, getting two 3-pointers from Arianna Aguilar, a freshman guard, as she scored 10 points in the first quarter. There was the all-around high-energy and up-tempo team play, the outstanding shooting from the trio of Aguilar, Rose Jamison and Jazmine Fontilla, and the way in which Napa Valley separated itself from Solano in the second quarter.
At the halftime break, it was Napa Valley out in front, 49-31.
"Those kids came to play. The team played so well tonight," Storm coach Paul DeBolt said. "They shared the ball. We didn't react to mistakes in a negative way. We stayed positive, kept pushing, kept pushing. I was just really, really proud of them."
Jamison, a sophomore guard, scored 32 points on 10-of-20 shooting from the field, hitting three 3-pointers and going 9-of-12 from the free-throw line, as Napa Valley rolled to an 80-59 win over Solano Community College-Fairfield. It's Jamison's fourth game of scoring 30 or more points during the 2024-25 season.
It also marks Napa Valley's second win of the season over Solano. The Storm picked up its first win over Solano since 1993 in January.
Jamison was 3-of-9 from 3-point distance. She had a double-double, also getting 14 rebounds, to go along with eight assists and two steals.
Aguilar knocked down five 3-pointers on the way to scoring 27 points on 11-of-21 shooting from the field. She was 5-of-12 on 3-pointers and had four rebounds and four assists.
Fontilla, a freshman guard, scored 11 points on 5-of-12 shooting from the field. She had six rebounds, seven assists and two steals.
The win was the fifth in a row for Napa Valley (16-10 overall, 12-2 Bay Valley), which is in sole possession of second place in the conference standings and 9-1 over its last 10 games. There are just two games to go in the regular season for the Storm.
"It's just a great win for the program and the college," said DeBolt. "That's their win."
DeBolt, in fact, called it a signature win for the Storm, which had nine 3-pointers and shot very well from the field.
"I think you have moments in a season where it comes together, and that first half, it came together," said DeBolt. "They were really playing hard, playing well. They understand their roles. They want to succeed and do well, and they want to compete. It was just nice to see them compete so hard tonight.
"Solano's a good team. We took them out of what they wanted to do."
Napa Valley beat Solano, 63-57, on Jan. 15.
The Storm swept the season series from Solano, also getting eight points from Marticia Pollard and two points from Helena White.
Pollard had eight rebounds, two assists and three steals.
White also had two rebounds, two assists and two steals.
Ashley Torres had five rebounds, four assists and four steals.
Jamison scored 24 points, Aguilar had 16 points and Fontilla had nine points to lead Napa Valley in the first half. After Solano closed to within three points at 23-20, Napa Valley took charge, going on an 8-0 run, leading 31-20 with 6:34 to go in the first half.
"We put together a nice little run there, all the way to the end of the half," said DeBolt. "That was a key point in the game, the last five minutes of the second quarter, where we made shots. We wanted to push against them. We wanted to get up the court.
"There was a stretch in the third quarter where we struggled. But outside of that, I think we were pretty aggressive offensively, which we wanted to be."
Aguilar got open and scored on a play in transition at the buzzer, giving the Storm additional momentum at the half.
"This is just a history-making season. It feels great," said Jamison, one of the top players in NVC school history who reached 1,000 career points in the Storm's win over Los Medanos College-Pittsburg on Feb. 5.
"It was definitely a big game, definitely a lot of pressure. They had their crowd here; their energy was high. We did great playing as a team. Everybody's moving the ball, sharing the ball. We all just played together, with high energy, and just ran the floor. It's great seeing my teammates do well. I love seeing them score and doing well in the game.
"We were definitely just focusing on defense and then once we got the ball, after getting stops, we just focused on sharing the ball."
Jamison is having one of the best seasons of a player in NVC school history. She is averaging 21.4 points on 45.1 percent shooting from the field and 73.1 percent from the free-throw line. She is also averaging 11.4 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game.
Jamison ranks among the leaders in the state in five areas:
Total rebounds, eighth; rebounds per game, 13th; blocks, eighth; points, fifth; assists, 13th; points per game, fourth.
"Rose is amazing," said DeBolt. "For Rose to come in and play like that in a game (against Solano), really the signature game of our season, is huge for us. We can put her anywhere in our offense and anywhere in our defense. She is just such a great all-around player and an asset to any team."
Aguilar is having a very good season for the Storm, as she is averaging 14.9 points on 40.6 percent shooting from the field and 31.3 percent from the 3-point line. She is also averaging 4.3 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game.
"She's a pure scorer. She runs the floor. She just brings a lot to us," said Jamison.
It's the fourth time that Napa Valley has scored 80 or more points in a game this year.
Aguilar was dominant, said DeBolt.
"She came in with a real great mindset to go out and play. She had a big night. Just made shots; played good defense," said DeBolt.
As a team, Napa Valley shot 43.7 percent from the field (31-of-71) and 33.3 percent from 3-point distance (9-of-27). The Storm had 42 rebounds, 27 assists and 14 steals.
Solano (16-11 overall, 11-4 Bay Valley), which is in third place and 7-3 over its last 10 games, had a four-game win streak end. The Falcons closed to within 69-56 after an 8-0 run in the fourth quarter.
Natalia Sanchez scored 19 points and had 11 rebounds and five assists, Kimani Wilburn scored 15 points and had eight rebounds and four steals, and Samantha Miller had 12 points and 12 rebounds for Solano.
Solano shot 32.4 percent from the field (24-of-74), 18.2 percent from 3-point distance (6-of-33), and 33.3 percent from the free-throw line (5-of-15). The Falcons had 54 rebounds, nine assists, nine steals and three blocked shots.
Napa Valley's next game is Tuesday, Feb. 18 at College of Marin-Kentfield (15-11 overall, 10-4 Bay Valley), which has won four in a row and is in fourth place in the conference, having gone 7-3 in its last 10 games.
"We've got a tough game against Marin on Tuesday. They're very good team. Also, we're battling for a playoff spot. We want to win out, but we have to take them one at a time, and we have to prepare," said DeBolt.
"We prepared hard for this game (against Solano), and we want to prepare the same way for Marin."
NVC's "Sophomore Night" is Thursday, Feb. 20 when the Storm is at home to face Yuba College-Marysville at 7:30 p.m.
The 2025 California Community College Athletic Association-Northern California Regional Championships, which will have a 24-team field, starts with first-round games on Feb. 26. The field will be announced on Feb. 23.
* 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.