The Analy Flying Tigers finished up Sonoma County League play with a flourish, closing out the schedule with wins over Petaluma and Elsie Allen to secure third place at 7-5.
More importantly, the victories qualified the Tigers for both the Sonoma County League and North Coast Section Division 3 playoffs, a huge accomplishment for a team that started the season at 2-9 after its first 11 games.
“A month ago I might not have thought we could get to this place,” Analy coach Bret Page said of becoming playoff eligible. “The boys really got this turned around and put themselves into a position to get extra games and make a run in the playoffs.”
Analy (10-16 overall) opened the SCL playoff tournament at #2 seeded Piner on Feb. 14, with the winner advancing to the tourney title game on Feb. 16 at Santa Rosa Junior College (7:30 p.m.).
Also on the horizon are the NCS playoffs, which start next week. The NCS seeding committee will meet this Sunday to fill out the divisional brackets.
Tigers move into third place
Analy began the final week of league play needing to win to extend its season, and took a major step in its Feb. 7 visit to Petaluma. The Tigers, who lost to the Trojans on a buzzer beater in their first meeting, busted open a tight game with a 21-6 second quarter surge for a 29-13 halftime lead. Analy opened up a 20-point cushion by the end of three and kept its foot on the gas en route to a 62-46 win.
Pacing the Analy attack were JJ Fain (21 points, 17 in first half), Cason Roberts (13 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 steals), Quinn Vermeulen (12 points, 6 boards), Avi Frey (8 points) and Zach Binsfeld (5 points, 8 rebounds).
Analy took the court with third place on the line on Friday at Elsie Allen, racing to a quick 10-0 lead. The cushion quickly evaporated, as the Lobos ripped off a 12-2 run to knot the contest at 12-12. The teams were tied at 22 at the half.
The second half belonged to the Tigers, regaining control to open up a double-digit lead by the end three en route to a 67-51 victory.
“We came out in the third quarter, made some adjustments and stuck with it as a team,” Page noted. “Our defense was much better, started running and got some easy baskets and opened up a good lead.”
Leading the Tigers’ offense were Fain (19 points), Binsfeld (16 points, 10 rebounds), Vermeulen (11 points, 6 rebounds), Frey (8 points, 12 boards) and Roberts (3 points, 10 rebounds).
Lions wrap up season
The El Molino Lions (4-20, 1-11) played their final game on the SCL schedule on Feb. 7, falling at Sonoma Valley 62-21.
Although the Lions had played some of their best ball in the second half of the winter campaign, they could not get it going in the league finale.
“After our first handful of possessions in which we ran nice sets, got good looks and made two buckets, it was downhill from there,” El Mo coach Jesse Heiny said. “We were not guarding how we had prepped. The first four-plus minutes were really the difference we could never overcome.”
Chase Nicholls was one of the bright spots for the Lions, scoring a team-high seven points. Wyatt Stringfellow chipped in an outstanding defensive effort for El Molino.
