Sonoma Valley Dragons lose two basketball games against league rivals

The Sonoma Valley Dragons boys basketball team suffered consecutive losses to SCL rivals Petaluma and Analy last week, further eroding their chances of post-season play.|

The Sonoma Valley Dragons boys basketball team suffered consecutive losses to SCL rivals Petaluma and Analy last week, further eroding their chances of post-season play.

Thursday night, Jan. 11, found the team traveling just down the road to Petaluma but coming up short in a 71-59 final score. Down 32-19 by the half, the Dragons did manage a fourth-period rally – outscoring the Trojans 22-15 – but by that point they were so far in the hole the big quarter was for naught.

“It was a hard-fought physical battle,” said Coach Mike Boles. “We knew emotions would be high in the first half and we would need to play through the environment,” referring to the home-court advantage the Trojans enjoyed.

A definite highlight was the play of junior Jack Boydell, who sank five three-pointers out of six tries en route to a 28-point game, hitting 63 percent of his tosses. It was short of his 34 points against Franklin in December, but a notable game by any standard.

With Boydell on fire, all the Dragons needed was at least a smolder from the other plays, but the next highest scores were racked up by Tyler Garrett with six, Reed Hewitt and Justin Cox with five, and Nick Spanger and Riley Phelan with four each. Garrett also scored a pair of three-pointers out of six attempts.

Overall, the team shot slightly less than half from the floor, 49 percent, still not enough to best Petaluma over the night.

Boydell also nabbed three rebounds, though Garrett, Phelan, Hewitt and Brendan Hogan took down four each.

“The players did a nice job playing hard, competing, and eventually we were able to get things going,” said Boles. “Problem was, it was too little, too late.”

Two nights later, on Friday Jan. 19, the Dragons hosted visiting Analy but couldn’t give the home crowd a win, falling to the Tigers 51-44 in a game that was closer than the final score.

“We came out with purpose, but seemed a little off defensively to start,” said Boles. The nailbiter first quarter ended 16-15 in the visitors’ favor, but it was followed by a blow-away second as the visiting Tigers scored 11 and the home team only two. That quarter proved the difference, as the Dragons took the third 9-6 and the two teams scored 18 each in the final.

“We were confident we could overcome and the kids did a good job of competing,” said the coach. “Tyler’s three-point basket with 6:32 remaining cut the lead to 35-32, and you could feel the momentum shift our way.”

But Analy answered with three-pointers of their own and sank their free-throws, pulling away at the end.

This time senior Max Gustafson was the high scorer with 12, the only double-digit points on the team. Boydell had cooled considerably, scoring only 9 points and missing on all six of his three-point attempts.

Garrett and Phelan scored nine points each, and also led the team with rebounds, eight for junior Garrett and six for sophomore Phelan.

“It was a disappointing loss for sure,” said Boles. “We know we are so close and the kids have been positive. We get another opportunity on the road Tuesday at El Molino.”

The game at El Molino is Tuesday, Jan. 16, with the next home game on Thursday against Piner. Tip-off times are 4:30 for frosh squads, 6 for JV and 7:30 p.m. for varsity.

“The players are ready,” said Coach Boles.

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