RVC girls clinch at least a tie for league title

<p>Rincon Valley Christian’s girls’ basketball team clinched at least a tie for the North Central II-South title Tuesday night by defeating host Sonoma Academy, 51-37.</p><p>And, to the consternation of their six league rivals, the Eagles figure to be even better next year. A check of their roster shows only one senior on the team that is now 19-4 and 10-0 in league.</p><p>However, before dreaming of next season, this year’s team still has work to do. For starters, RVC must win one of its two remaining league games to capture the conference crown outright and with it the top seed in the league playoffs, which begin Feb. 18.</p><p>Clinching league shouldn’t be difficult. The Eagles visit Santa Rosa Christian (winless in league) on Friday and finish up against Roseland Prep next Tuesday. After that, it will be the first round of North Coast Section-Div. VI starting Feb. 24.</p><p>Sonoma Academy came into Tuesday’s game with a 9-1 league record and needed a win to challenge RVC for championship honors. With five minutes to play, it looked like the Coyotes would do just that.</p><p>After trailing by as many as 15 points, Sonoma Academy narrowed the lead to 42-37 and its leading scorer, Kate Bayes, was on her way to fast-break layup. However, the sophomore was unable to convert.</p><p>RVC then took control once more, scoring the game’s final nine points. Arianna Hanson had four of those crucial points and finished with a game-high 20. The 5-foot-10 junior scored 16 in the second half, most coming from close range. </p><p>“We stayed calm as a team when they made that run,” Hanson said. “Earlier in the season, we would’ve rushed to make something happen. We worked the ball around and tried to take only high percentage shots. That’s definitely something we’ve wanted to improve upon.”</p><p>RVC, the Empire’s No. 2 small school, is going to have some gaudy numbers going into the postseason. The Eagles have now won 13 in a row. During that streak, they Eagles have held opponents to an average of 25 points while the offense has been scoring 52.</p><p>“I think we’ve wrapped up the league,” coach Doug Crouse said. “We didn’t shoot exceptionally well, but we scrapped and the starters played tremendous.”</p><p>RVC began the game playing a 1-2-2 zone defense, and the scheme worked as Bayes had only two points at half. At that point, Sonoma Academy trailed 28-17. The guard was much more productive in the second half, scoring 14.</p><p>When the teams met Jan. 15 at RVC, the Eagles won 57-35.</p><p>“We played them much better this time,” first-year coach Kevin Christensen said. “When we made that run in the last quarter, we had three freshmen and a sophomore on the court. They had a size advantage on us and we did everything we could to keep them out of the paint. Unfortunately, sometimes they got at least two or three shots in close”</p><p>Junior Claire Bailey, the tallest player on the court at 6-1, had 11 for RVC. Senior Mary Meihaus and junior Hannah Dolan each had eight.</p><p>Kiana Herold had a breakout game for Sonoma Academy. She made two 3-point goals in the first half; and in the third quarter, the freshman was fouled after making a trey. She then hit the free throw for a four-point play.</p><p>Sonoma Academy, winner of league and NCS-Div. VI last year, is 16-6 heading into its regular-season finale on Friday against Tomales.</p>