Sonoma High’s Lady Dragons handle Healdsburg Hounds in girls basketball

Home for three straight Sonoma County League games this week, followed by a non-league game on Saturday, the defending SCL champion Lady Dragons hosted Healdsburg Saturday night in Pfeiffer Gym, and it turned into a hard-played showdown of second-place teams.

With consistently tough defender junior Kayla Field having what head coach Sil Coccia called, “a breakout offensive game, especially from outside the arc with five three-pointers,” the Lady Dragons held off a tough challenge from rival Healdsburg to register a 51-47 SCL victory.

“This was a terrific bounce-back game for the team after a sub-par performance against Piner. Healdsburg is the most improved team in the SCL and gave us all we could handle – this was a really good high school basketball game,” said Coccia.

“Our girls played with a lot of composure and executed really well on offense. While we gave up more points than we would like to, it’s the outcome that matters in the end. We held their two best players in check, and making eight three’s certainly helped immensely. Nailing clutch shots and free throws in crunch time shows that this team is ready to go after and defend our title.”

Sonoma was led past the Greyhound girls by Field’s game-high 19 points, including five treys and seven rebounds; junior Grace Cutting’s 15 points, including two treys, seven rebounds and two blocked shots; senior Renee O’Donnell’s six points, seven rebounds and two blocks; senior Jenny Eggers five points and seven rebounds; sophomore Amy Stanfield’s two points and three assists; senior Emma Stanfield and junior Katie Stovall’s two points each; and senior Sami Von Gober’s four rebounds.

The Lady Dragons next league foe is Elsie Allen tonight, varsity game starting at 7:30, before current league-leader Analy comes to town for a showdown Thursday evening, Jan. 28, again at 7:30 p.m. in Pfeiffer Gym.

The Lady Dragons will remain in town on Saturday, Jan. 30, for a non-league game against Tamalpais, with varsity tip-off at 6 p.m. in Pfeiffer Gym.