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Lady Dragons ousted from SCL Tourney by Analy

Sonoma girls await postseason NCS Division-3 seeding

Despite having to play the postseason without the services of their senior floor-leading point-guard Kendall Ashe, the second-seed Sonoma Valley High School varsity basketball girls looked in sync at the start of last night’s Sonoma County League Tournament first-round showdown with third-seed Analy in Pfeiffer Gym.

While the young Lady Dragons set the tone and took an early lead, they, unfortunately, couldn’t shake free from a battling Analy squad and held just a 12-9 first-quarter edge.

Then came Sonoma’s out-of-character sleepwalk through the second-period and the visiting Tiger girls took full advantage by completely taking over the pace of the game, dominating the boards and winning almost every possession en route to a jaw-dropping 21-3 run that threatened to turn the contest into a rout.

But the Lady Dragons, who had only one rebound in the first six minutes of the second-quarter, managed to muster an 8-2 run of their own to end the first-half trailing hot-shooting Analy 36-26, and then began the third-period with an upbeat 5-2 spurt to cut the deficit to just seven points.

Unfortunately, Sonoma still couldn’t slow the aggressive Tigers, who again pounced out to a double-digit lead that ended with them escaping the Valley with a 54-48 victory.

Pacing the Sonoma girl cagers was the standout sophomore duo of Delaney Swanson and Mackenzie Albrecht, who combined for 31 points, 16 rebounds, six steals and two blocks, with junior teammate Giana Monterosso adding eight points and three assists.

While Analy advances to tomorrow’s, Saturday, Feb. 16, SCL Tourney title game against top-seed Petaluma in Santa Rosa Junior College’s Haehl Pavillion, the Lady Dragons await to see what’s next on the postseason horizon when it comes to competing in the North Coast Section Division-3 playoffs.

The NCS seeding meeting takes place this Sunday, Feb. 17, in Dublin.