Thursday’s Lady Dragon win over Piner wasn’t a pretty win, but at this point in the season, style points aren’t as important as wins.
Sonoma beat Piner 31-15 in the opening round of the Sonoma County League Tournament and will face Analy at 6 p.m. Saturday at SRJC for the tournament crown.
The Lady Dragons will be going for their second straight SCL basketball tournament title – and it was Analy they beat last year for the crown. Oh, and just a couple of weeks ago, Sonoma trailed Analy by a dozen at halftime and came back to win in the Analy gym.
Thursday night, the Prospectors gave Sonoma all it could handle for the first quarter and part of the second. At one point, Piner even led – albeit by two points. It was a physical game with bodies littering the floor at times.
After a 4-4 first quarter where the Prospectors clogged up the middle and kept the Lady Dragons out of the key, Piner took a 6-4 lead that lasted all of about a minute-and-a-half. Then, the Lady Dragons took charge.
Sonoma went on a 16-0 run and led 20-6 with a little more than two minutes to go in the third quarter. But even then, they were having a hard time finding the basket. They went almost the first four minutes of the third quarter without a point until senior Grace Cutting hit a basket at the 4:12 mark.
The Lady Dragons took a 26-9 lead into the fourth quarter where they hit another 6-1/2-minute scoring drought. But they were safely ahead and their defense kept Piner from mounting any sort of comeback.
By the time the dust – and the bodies – settled, Sonoma had a 31-145 win.
Senior Kayla Field led the Lady Dragons with 15 points including three treys, Cutting had eight, sophomore Annie Neles had four, senior Alanna Johnston had three and sophomore Annika Ginter had one.
The win was Sonoma’s 20th straight, and it gives them a 22-5 record.
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