Windsor clamps down on defense to top Healdsburg

In an early season NBL-SCL interleague boys’ basketball battle Tuesday, host Windsor came out sluggish in the first half against Healdsburg but turned in a stellar defensive performance in the second half to lock down the comeback win, 51-44.

“It was a tale of two halves,” Windsor coach Travis Taylor said. “Healdsburg came out with a better effort in the first half. We challenged our kids at halftime, and in the second half it was about focus and effort.”

Windsor (3-2) trailed 34-26 at the break but outscored Healdsburg (2-3) 26-10 in the second half. In the third quarter Healdsburg?scored just four points, all on free throws.

“My kids did a good job executing our game plan in the first half. Windsor just didn’t execute in the first half,” Healdsburg ?coach Yasah Mokaram said. “Travis (Taylor) made some adjustments at halftime and Windsor turned up the heat in the second half but we just didn’t respond.”

Healdsburg made more 3-pointers, hitting seven to Windsor’s three. And the Jaguars were 14-of-21 from the free-throw line while the Greyhounds were 9-of-13. But as Taylor said, it all came down to defense, especially in the second half.

“In the first half we were playing as though we were hoping to win but not deserving to win,” Taylor said. “You have to give my kids credit - they took up the challenge on the defensive end and cranked up the effort.”

Mokaram agreed.

“Windsor wanted the win more than we did and that really showed in the second half,” he said. “We just didn’t play with any urgency.”

The Jaguars were led by Riley Smith, who had 24 points and 13 rebounds, and his brother, Justin Smith, who finished with 13 points and six rebounds.

The Greyhounds were led by Trey Chapman, who had 12 points and nine rebounds.

Novato 48, ?Petaluma 42

In a boys’ non-league game, the visiting Trojans (1-1) suffered their first loss of the season to the Hornets (3-2), who held a 9-1 advantage in 3-pointers.

“Our offense was atrocious. If it wasn’t a missed layup, then we were turning the ball over,” Petaluma coach Scott Behrs said. “When you only score 42 points you aren’t winning many varsity basketball games.”

Petaluma trailed 38-28 at the end of three quarters and made a run in the fourth quarter, but fell short.

“We closed it to four points but we ended up fouling the wrong guy and he made a bunch of free throws,” Behrs said. “We turned the ball over a lot due to Novato’s ball pressure. We didn’t score our first field goal until the second period.”

The Trojans were led by Devin Gottschall with 16 points and 11 rebounds.

The Hornets were led by Jason Carpenter with 18 points.

GIRLS: ?Sonoma Valley 52, Napa 44

The Dragons (4-2) relied on a 46-26 advantage in rebounds to pull away from the visiting Indians (0-1).

“We got a lot of offensive rebounds. All 10 of our players rebounded,” Sonoma Valley coach Jann Thorpe said. “Rebounding is something we would like to be a part of our identity.”

With Sonoma Valley leading 35-34 at the end of the third quarter, the Dragons relied on free throw shooting (5-of-6) and rebounding in the fourth quarter to outscore Napa 17-10 and seal the victory.

“Free throws ended up being a big deal for us,” Thorpe said, as his team was 11-of-16 from the line. “In the second half we did a better job playing with our heads up and finding the open person.”

Thorpe said her team’s shot selection and shooting percentage was poor but the offensive rebounding remedied much of that.

Alyssa Shimm led Sonoma Valley with 12 points and four rebounds and teammate Annie Neles added 11 points and seven rebounds.

Napa was led by Sophia Brandon with 11 points.