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Petaluma shuts down Lady Dragons

Sonoma drops battle for SCL 1st, hosts El Mo tonight; JVs, frosh

Last Thursday, the Sonoma Valley High School varsity basketball girls’ team rode into Sebastopol and applied its trademark tough pressure defense, while using power post play to build up a 16-point three-quarter lead, then staved off Analy’s fourth-period rally for a 46-40 Sonoma County League victory.

With the win, the Sonoma girls equalled Petaluma’s 5-0 SCL record and the first-place-tied longtime rivals met Saturday night at Pfeiffer Gym in a showdown for sole possession of the top-spot in the seven-team league standings.

From the opening tip, the game became a physical battle played mostly in the low-posts and along the baselines, where a big and aggressive Petaluma took the upperhand and pounded out a 16-10 first-quarter lead, then continued to out-rebound, out-pressure and, for the most part, out-play the Lady Dragons.

The Trojan girls extended their advantage to 34-21 at the half on the strength of an 18-2 second-quarter run, maintained their 13-point edge for three-quarters of action, and when the final horn sounded, Sonoma had been saddled with a stinging 56-42 defeat.

Pacing the now second-place Lady Dragons were senior Kendall Ashe’s 18 points, four assists and three rebounds; sophomore Mackenzie Albrecht’s double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds; sophomore Delaney Swanson’s four points, five rebounds and two steals; senior Ashley Vail’s four points, four rebounds, three blocked shots and two steals; and senior Ali Romano’s four points and junior Giana Monterosso’s two.

In defeating Analy on the SCL road, the Sonoma girls rode the strong inside presence of Vail and Albrecht in increasing their lead to 16-points after three-quarters.

The Lady Dragons then experienced a fourth-quarter offensive drought that allowed Analy to furiously rally back, cutting the deficit to single digits, while gaining confidence in stealing a big comeback win from what looked like a one-sided loss.

But Sonoma regrouped, played back into sync behind Vail’s double-double (18 points, 13 rebounds); and senior Ali Romano’s scoring touch, and finally sunk Analy for a 46-40 triumph.

The Lady Dragons, who played nonleague Maria Carrillo in the fourth annual NBL-SCL Milk Day Challenge – results not available at presstime – continue their current home stand by hosting El Molino tonight, Jan. 22, with the junior varsity starting at 6, and the varsity tips off at 7:30 p.m.

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Sonoma’s jayvee girl cagers registered two one-sided wins last week, defeating Analy 46-25 in Sebastopol on Thursday, and then beating visiting Petaluma 52-22 on Saturday.

Leading the Lady Dragon jayvees past Analy were Ciara Smith’s 12 points and seven rebounds; Sami Von Gober’s seven points and six rebounds; Hanna Lemaire’s seven points; Shelby Camilleri’s six points and seven rebounds; and Rian Verdu’s Bella Bollman’s six points each and Sierra Lilly’s two.

The Lady Dragons were led to their win over Petaluma by Camilleri’s 10 points and five rebounds; Bollman’s 10 points; Von Gober’s seven points and 10 rebounds; Lilly’s and Verdu’s six points apiece; Angela Fulkerson’s four points and four rebounds; Smith’s three points and eight rebounds; and Lemaire’s and Laryssa Baker’s three points each.

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Sonoma’s freshman hoops girls dropped a 37-33 decision to a tough visiting Acalanes team on Saturday, paced by Renee O’Donnell’s nine points, 12 rebounds and four steals; Jenny Eggers’ eight points and six rebounds; Rocky Darnell’s eight points and five rebounds; Annie Greenslade’s four points, six rebounds, four assists and three steals; and Emma Stanfield’s four points, five steals and three rebounds.