NVC to host fifth annual Storm Surge, preseason women's basketball tournament
First photo: The Napa Valley College women's basketball team is shown during its Media Day earlier in the year.
Second photo: The Napa Valley College women's basketball team is shown during its Media Day earlier in the year.
Photos by Marty James
By MARTY JAMES
The fifth annual Storm Surge, a preseason women's basketball invitational tournament hosted by Napa Valley College, is Dec. 11, 12 and 13.
Twelve nonconference games will be played during the tournament over the three days.
San Jose City College, the defending champion, leads the eight-team field. San Jose City beat the host Storm in the championship game of last year's tournament, 78-50.
"Some good teams. Some teams that are better than they've been," said Paul DeBolt, Napa Valley's head coach. "It's just great to have some good competition. It should be a good tournament."
It's an eight-team bracketed tournament, with each team guaranteed three games.
In first-round games, on Thursday, Dec. 11:
* Los Medanos College-Pittsburg and San Jose City College play at 1 p.m.
* Porterville College and Napa Valley play at 3 p.m.
* College of the Canyons-Santa Clarita and Diablo Valley College-Pleasant Hill meet at 5 p.m.
* College of the Siskiyous-Weed and Rio Hondo College-Whittier play in the final game of the day at 7 p.m.
"We host this tournament because it's a fun thing to do. You get to see a lot of teams. We get home games right in a row," said DeBolt. "I think it makes us better. At that point, we're leading up to conference. So, it just kind of helps us get ready for that.
"It's just a chance to kind of put us on the map a little bit more, so people realize we have a good program."
Second-round games on Friday, Dec. 12 start at 12, 2, 4 and 6 p.m.
Final-round games on Saturday, Dec. 13 start at 10 a.m., 12, 2 and 4 p.m.
"People get to come to the Napa Valley and visit the Bay Area. It's kind of a fun thing for a lot of teams to do," said DeBolt.
"We have a great athletic staff. We have our staff here to help. There's so much support here. The athletic staff works hard."
Awards will be presented to the Most Valuable Player and those on the All-Tournament Team, along with the tournament champion, second- and third-place teams, consolation champion, and the coach of the tournament champion.
"They're all programs with great tradition. It's eight solid programs," said DeBolt. "It's a nice blend. They're all programs that have been around for a long time, that have really good coaches. They're all teams that are getting better."
With 13 players on the team, Napa Valley has greater depth, allowing DeBolt and his staff more options and flexibility when it comes to playing time, particularly in a tournament.
"We'll be able to mix up playing time a little more," said DeBolt. "With these tournaments, when you're in the team room before the first game, I always tell the team, 'When we're in here after the last game of this tournament, we'll be a lot different.'
"We'll grow a lot. We'll get a lot better. Three games in three days makes you adjust to a lot of styles of play. It makes you focus on learning. You get to play the next day. If you lose, you play the next day. You don't have to brood about it for a week or whatever. You just get right back on it. It's just really for the growth of our team."
San Jose City, out of the Coast-South Conference, is off to a 6-2 start.
Diablo Valley, out of the Big 8 Conference, is 0-5.
Los Medanos, a member of the Bay Valley Conference, is 5-1.
Canyons, out of the Western State-South Conference, is 3-4.
Siskiyous, a member of the Golden Valley Conference, is 2-5.
Rio Hondo, out of the South Coast-North Conference, is 4-4.
Porterville, a member of the Central Valley Conference, is 0-5.
Napa Valley (4-2 overall) has won two straight games.
The Storm has upcoming nonconference games, at Mission College-Santa Clara, on Dec. 4, and at home on Dec. 6 against Diablo Valley.
Leading the Storm:
* Jazmine Fontilla, who is averaging 13.2 points, 3.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game.
* Arianna Aguilar, who is averaging 10.8 points, 4.0 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game.
* Layla Butler, who is averaging 8.0 points, 4.2 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game.
* Ashley Torres, who is averaging 6.0 points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game.
* Marticia Pollard, who is averaging 6.6 points and 6.0 rebounds per game.
* Amya Sims, who is averaging 3.6 points and 2.2 rebounds per game.
* Amiyah Murry, who is averaging 5.4 points and 5.8 rebounds per game.
* Jazelle Bolton, who is averaging 5.4 points and 6.4 rebounds per game.
"I think we're getting better, just trying to improve," said DeBolt. "We're still trying to find a team identity, kind of who are we with so many new players. So, I think we're moving in that direction, to find a true identity.
"Playing time is a little more competitive now. We're coming along. We have a lot of room for improvement. We've been working on really being better with the basketball, understanding situations a little better, working against pressure, and really playing to our strengths. I think every coach teaches players to play to their strengths, but something that we're really emphasizing for this group."
* Marty James is a freelance writer who makes his home in Napa. He retired on June 4, 2019 after spending 40 years as a sports writer, sports editor and executive sports editor for the Napa Valley Register, a daily newspaper in Napa County. He is a 1979 graduate of Sacramento State and a member of the California Golf Writers & Broadcasters Association. He was inducted into the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Hall of Fame in 2016, the Vintage High School Athletic Hall of Fame in 2019, and the Napa High School Athletic Hall of Fame in 2022.