Sonoma Valley’s girls basketball team won 1, lost 2 in home tournament

Lady Dragons win first Classic match, drop next 2 to disappoint home fans; rematch with Analy Tuesday.|

Dragon Classic Results

1st place: Montgomery

2nd: San Marin

3rd: Analy

4th Sonoma

5th: Campolindo

6th: Drake

7th: San Demenico

8th: Ukiah

The annual Dragon Classic, the girls basketball tournament hosted by Sonoma Valley High School, was played over a wet and windy weekend but it didn’t affect the action within the walls of Pfeiffer Gym.

Unfortunately for the host team, the Dragons won only one of their three games, the first meet of the match held on Thursday, Dec. 5. Led by junior Jovana Saldana’s 13 points and senior Kennedy Midgley’s aggressive play on both sides of the ball, the Dragons defeated the Drake Pirates by a score of 47-32.

Midgley got 8 points and a like number of rebounds, as Chelsey Crespo matched her 8 rebounds with 6 points. Also contributing to the winning score were Sophie Lucchetti with 8, Audrey Powers with 7, Kaliyah Hensic with 3 and center Campbell Rolston with a basket for 2.

“This was a great win for us,” said coach Jann Thorpe. “This put us in the winner’s side of the bracket.”

Unfortunately they didn’t stay there long, dropping the next two games over the next two days. On Friday, they lost to the San Marin Mustangs, 46-34, in a game that was not competitive past the first quarter. “We did not play smart and together for the second and third quarters,” said Thorpe. “We tried to come back in the fourth but it was too late.”

Once again Saldana led scoring with 15, backed by Crespo’s 9 and Midgley’s 5. Zoe Panelli showed up with 4 points and Sophia Vogt sank one, with three rebounds.

The third game against Analy was more competitive through the first three quarters, but in the fourth quarter the Tigers opened up their game and outscored the host team to take the 57-48 win.

“Kennedy Midgley stepped up huge for us and was a key reason for staying in the game,” said Thorpe. Midgley topped the team with 16 points and 14 rebounds, while Saldana had 14 and five, Lucchetti had 6 and five, and Lola Martin had 4 points and five rebounds.

Indeed, the senior’s performance earned her an All-Tournament selection, but Thorpe was quick to praise Saldana for her “solid tournament” performance. “She is deserving of all-tournament as well, as she is an offensive threat whenever she is on the floor. She can score from the inside and out, and makes it tough on teams to defend her.”

The Dragons will have another chance to put their best game forward against the Tigers this week, as the regular schedule resumes with an Analy-Sonoma game in Sonoma on Tuesday, Dec. 10 at 7 p.m. It will be interesting to see which team learned more from their matchup just three days earlier at the Dragon Classic. JV at 5:30, varsity tip-off at 7 p.m.

Dragon Classic Results

1st place: Montgomery

2nd: San Marin

3rd: Analy

4th Sonoma

5th: Campolindo

6th: Drake

7th: San Demenico

8th: Ukiah

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