Sonoma ran off to a 21-3 first quarter lead Tuesday, and El Molino could never recover as the Dragons thumped the Lions 62-32.
“It was a good effort,” said Coach Mike Boles. “Our focus was there from the start.”
After running off to an 18-point lead in the first quarter, Sonoma ran off six unanswered points on a basket by senior Nazir Lyle and two free throws and a bucket by sophomore Brendan Hogan in the first two-plus minutes of the start the second quarter. When senior Colton Mertens hit a basket in the closing seconds of the half, the Dragons had a 27-point lead, at 38-11.
After senior Luke Severson converted on a pair of free throws and freshman Jay Taylor hit a deuce to start the third quarter, the Dragons hit a three-minute dry spell while the Lions hit a deuce and two treys – but that meant they were only down by 23.
El Molino managed to cut the margin to 18 in the first minute of the fourth quarter, but the Dragons caught fire and went on a 14-2 tear in a three-minute span to make it a 30-point margin.
The final was 62-32.
“At halftime, we addressed the fact that the first four minutes of second half is important,” Boles said. “They did a good job recovering and playing well in fourth quarter.”
“Thursday and Saturday will be fun,” he added.
Everybody played multiple minutes – and eight players scored – as Boles made wholesale changes, sending in five players at a time on numerous occasions.
Lyle led the Dragon attack with 13 points. Junior Dylan Samaniego and Taylor had a dozen, Severson had eight, Mertens had seven, Hogan had four while senior Eric Bailey and junior Dominic Tommasi had three.
The Dragons pulled down 28 rebounds – 19 of which were defensive boards. Severson and Lyle each had six rebounds.
The win gives the Dragons a 10-8 overall record and a 3-1 Sonoma County League record.
The Dragons hosted Healdsburg Thursday night, results not available at presstime.
Sonoma will face Petaluma Saturday as a make-up game for one that was postponed last week because of the weather.
The Dragons will continue their homestand next week when Piner visits on Wednesday and Elsie Allen is here Friday, Jan. 27.
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