Lady Dragons surge sweeps Analy

Sonoma tops defending champs, all alone in SCL 1st, host Piner Saturday|

It was a physical battle from the outset of Tuesday night’s Sonoma County League showdown between the two front-runners, with tough defense leading to a first half of missed shots and low scoring that had the Sonoma Valley High School varsity basketball girls trying to keep defending champion Analy from pulling away.

Down 23-18 at the half, the Lady Dragons continued to play their customary strong defense in the second half, while stepping up their offense and assembling a 16-10 third-quarter run, fueled by junior Jenny Eggers’ seven points, that overtook a taller Analy team and took a 34-33 edge into the final period.

With junior point guard Bella Bollman providing solid floor direction all over the court, and junior center Renee O’Donnell battling in the post, with both scoring a pair of baskets early in the fourth quarter, the Sonoma girls opened up a seven-point lead and held the visiting Tigers at bay down the stretch for a hard-fought 48-42 win.

With the victory, the Lady Dragons improved their overall record to 17-5 and took sole possession of first place in the SCL with a 7-1 mark and four games remaining in their title hunt, as Analy falls into a second-place tie with Petaluma at 6-2 each as of presstime.

“We’re so proud of this team in that they demonstrate a ‘refuse to lose’ mentality. We’ve seen it time and again where we’re down in the second half and the girls just ramp up the intensity and make the plays to come out on top in the end,” said Sonoma head coach Sil Coccia. “While we’re in first place alone now in the SCL, we haven’t won anything yet except 17 games. Our job as coaches is to, as cliché as it sounds, keep the girls focused only on the next game and to work hard in practice to keep getting better. If we do that and stay hungry for history, then I like our chances of coming out on top.”

Leading Sonoma were Eggers’ double-double of 11 points and 10 rebounds to go with two steals and a blocked shot; Bollman’s 11 points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals; senior Alexa Hall’s eight points, three rebounds, two assists and two steals; O’Donnell’s seven points and eight rebounds; junior Sami Von Gober’s six points, 11 rebounds, three assists and two steals; senior Shelby Camilleri’s three points and sophomore Grace Cutting’s two; and sophomore Kayla Field’s three rebounds and two steals.

The Lady Dragons, who played league rival El Molino in Forestville last night – results not available at presstime – host SCL foe Piner in a 7:30 p.m. clash tomorrow, Saturday, Feb. 7, in Pfeiffer Gym, with the junior varsity playing at 6.

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