Sonoma Valley’s Dragons hold off Ygnacio Valley in basketball action

The SVHS boys basketball varsity team began their season’s second half with a defeat of Ygnacio Valley on Saturday, Jan. 5, by a score of 60-54.

The Dragons played steady for the first three quarters, leading 13-11 after the first quarter and 28-18 at the half. But the Ygnacio Warriors came out in the second half with upset on their minds, scoring 13 in the third quarter (to the Dragons’ 15) and sinking 23 points in the fourth, the highest-scoring quarter for either team.

“We did many positive things for the first three quarters of the game,” said Coach Mike Boles. “Then we unraveled a bit…”

Pulling itself together, the Dragons scraped together 17 points of their own in the offense-oriented fourth, and held on to win by 10 at the buzzer.

Once again scoring was led by senior Jack Boydell, who hit 50 percent of his shots for 26 points, including two three-pointers. Boydell averages almost 20 points per game to lead the Dragons this year with a total of 299 points (and counting). His top game came Dec. 11 against Alhambra, when he sank 37 to match the opponents’ total in a 55-37 Dragon win.

“It is refreshing to see and coach a player that cares and is willing to put in extra time on his game,” said Boles of his leading scorer. “He is achieving these results due to his passion for basketball.”

Boles added that Boydell is “very understanding of the fact that his teammates are a big part of his success.”

Other leading point-makers for the Dragons included Riley Phelan and Tyler Garrett with eight each, while Dom Girish and Reed Hewitt each got six.

Nick Spanger got seven rebounds and two steals to lead the defensive effort, backed by Garrett with his five rebounds and three steals.

Calling the win against Ygnacio Valley “a good road win as we had contributions from lots of players,” Boles added that the team was “looking forward to the upcoming challenges in VVAL.”

The SVHS Dragons are now 10-5 on the year but lost their only Vine Valley Athletic League game when they fell to Casa Grande on Dec. 21. They hoped to change that last night, Monday, in their matchup against Napa at Pfeiffer Gym (results too late for press time).

Two more league games follow this week, against Justin Siena on Wednesday again at home, and on the road against Vintage on Friday. The Dragons face league-leading American Canyon, who have three wins to no losses in VVAL play, next Monday, Jan. 14 at Pfeiffer Gym. Varsity tipoff is 7 p.m. for all following games, at home or on the road.