The Los Medanos Mustangs men’s basketball team blew out the Napa Valley Storm 48-65 in the season finale at home last Friday night.
The Mustangs got off to an extremely hot start opening up the game with a 14-0 run that Napa Valley was never able to recover from.
Even Napa Valley acknowledges their poor start.
“We started of slow, and unfortunately it was too much for us to over come in the end,” said Napa Valley center Ben Jazuk.
Napa Valley head coach Steve Ball agrees with his center and added, “the first ten minutes set basketball back ten years with our execution and effort.”
Once the game started, the Mustangs could already taste a win.
“I was thinking victory, closing out season with a win,” said LMC center Willem Leeks.
Napa Valley, however, did not give up; at one point, they were only down 30-27 and were looking to stage a comeback.
“We fell off in the middle but ended strong,” said LMC small forward Javon Primus. The Mustangs quickly ended that comeback notion by scoring 13 unanswered points and never let up from there.
Napa Valley not being able to shoot 3-pointers all night was the main reason for their sloppy play.
“We shoot threes as a team, whether we make those or not decides if we win or lose,” said Jazuk.
The sloppy play of Napa Valley and the excellence of LMC’s play was the factor for such a large margin of victory. LMC did a good job in the zone and pressuring, which kept Napa guessing.
LMC Head Coach Derek Domenichelli said, “we played very hard, the team chemistry was good; it was a great team effort.”
The Mustangs wanted to end the season with a bang and made sure they gave it everything they had. “We played hard, we made a statement with a double digit lead,” said Leeks.
The play of the point guards for LMC seemed to have been the focal point for both teams.
Domenichelli said, “they did a great job of moving the ball and making passes, the point guards did a good job.”
LMC finished the season on a two-game win streak winning both games by large amounts. They finished with a 5-11 conference record, and a 14-15 record overall.
Although the team did not make playoffs, the Mustangs still had a blast out on the court.
Domenichelli added, “I loved this group of young men. Their effort was a joy to be around.”
LMC has high hopes for next season and plan to make a statement.
“I’m looking forward to getting a banner and dominating next season,” said Leeks.
Photo by Irvin Trigueros
Power forward Meleika Fountila (24) defends Napa Valley player in last Friday’s season closer.
