Analy and El Molino varsity basketball teams came to the end of a long, three-month journey on Friday, each playing out the string in their respective North Bay League divisions.
The Flying Tigers dropped a pair of home decisions to Montgomery (58-50) and Santa Rosa (54-40) to finish their inaugural NBL Oak Division season with a 1-9 league mark and 6-20 overall.
The Lions suffered a similar fate, falling in NBL Redwood Division road battles at Healdsburg (60-45) and Rancho Cotate (59-52) to finish up their best season in six years with a league mark of 1-9 and 8-15. The eight wins doubled their win total for last year.
“Of course, we’d hoped for a better record and to make playoffs, but I’m so proud of my guys and the season we had,” El Mo coach Collin Walker said. “I’m especially proud of our guys for playing the playoff-bound teams so tough in our last two games. We’ll use this season and all of our hard work to build for the future.”
Tigers’ battle falls short
The final score of Analy’s Jan. 30 clash with visiting Montgomery doesn’t begin to tell the story, as the Tigers played one of their best games of the season in a losing effort. The teams traded buckets in a close contest for most of the night before the Vikings put the game away at the foul line late in the fourth quarter in a 58-50 Montgomery win.
Top point producers for the Tigers included Avi Frey (12 points), Kevin Wagner (10) and Quinn Vermeulen (10).
Analy entertained Santa Rosa on Friday on Senior Night, honoring graduating veterans Brenden Martinez, Nic Visser, JJ Fain, Sam Housman and Avi Frey in a pre-game ceremony.
Following a tight first quarter, the Panthers closed out the half on a 23-12 run to bust it wide open and maintained the lead the rest of the way en route to a 54-40 win. Visser led the attack with a team-high 12 points, while Wagner chipped in 10 for the Tigers.
Lions close out season
The Jan. 30 visit to league champion Healdsburg held a few surprises, as the Lions raced out of the gate to grab a 20-9 first-quarter lead. The Hounds clawed back to cut the deficit to 26-19 at the half and never looked back, outscoring El Mo 44-19 in the final two periods in powering to a 60-45 win.
“This was one of the best games we’ve played all season,” Walker said. “We knew we’d have to take the fight to them, and that’s exactly what we did. Our guys came out on fire, and to top it off, our defense was outstanding.”
Top scorers for the Lions were Thomas Siegert (13 points), Logan Woolsey (9), Wyatt Stringfellow (6) and Chris Romeo (5).
El Molino traveled to Rancho Cotate for the season finale on Friday, spotting their host a 19-6 lead at the end of one. Trailing 46-29 after three, the Lions staged a furious fourth quarter rally but would fall just short in a 59-52 Rancho win.
“We knew this would be our last game of the season so I told my guys to play their hardest and leave everything on the floor,” Walker noted. “Our last quarter of the season would be one of our best. You could tell that our guys were going to fight until the very end.”
Pacing the El Mo offense were Abel Perez (8 points), Sam Kenny (8), MacGarett Osman (8), Thomas Siegert (7) and Sam Wilson-Mietz (5).
