Windsor opens NBL schedule this week
The varsity basketball Jaguars emerged from a competitive preseason schedule a much improved team this month, and now will take aim at some of best in the Redwood Empire when they open the North Bay League season this week.
Windsor (6-8) will host Santa Rosa in the NBL Oak Division opener on Jan. 7 (after press time), and entertain Alameda in a non-league clash on Saturday, Jan. 11 (7:30 p.m.).
The Jaguars have played some of their best ball in the last five outings, including winning two of three games in the annual Windsor Holiday Shootout on Dec. 26-28).
The Jags opened the tourney with a 71-58 victory over Ukiah, controlling the game from start to finish. Pacing the Windsor attack were Dante Mendoza (20 points), Christian Jernigan (16 points), Jaden Ruybalid (13 points) and Billy Boyle (10 points).
“This was a great win for us, especially after a couple days off for the holiday,” Jags coach Jared Greninger said. “We relied on our man defense throughout the contest and Dante Mendoza was very hard to guard, scoring both inside and from beyond the arc.”
The Jaguars faced eventual tourney champ Amador Valley in game two, yielding 27 points in the decisive second quarter en route to a 73-53 loss. Jernigan led the way with 23 points, while Mendoza chipped in 14.
Windsor squared off with Marin Academy in the battle for third place, riding the hot hands of Boyle (17 points), Jernigan (16 points) and Ruybalid (15 points) in pulling out a 59-52 win. Ruybalid, who took four charging fouls in the game, was named to the all-tourney team for Windsor.
“We have really struggled with teams that play physical this year, so this win gave us the confidence we need to beat teams that play this way,” Greninger said. “We were excited to finish in the top three of our home tourney, and only losing to the eventual champ Amador Valley.”
The Jaguars continued pre-league action with a 67-57 win over Maria Carrillo on Jan. 3, but fell to Northgate, 66-42 in their most recent outing on Saturday.
