NVC men's basketball gets 26 points from Russotti in loss to state-ranked Yuba College
By MARTY JAMES
The Napa Valley College men's basketball team fell behind by 20 points at halftime and went on to lose to state-ranked Yuba College-Marysville, 94-58 in a Bay Valley Conference game on Friday, Feb. 13.
Yuba (20-6 overall, 13-1 Bay Valley) has wrapped up the conference championship. Yuba went into the game at No. 10 in the California Community College Men's Basketball Coaches Association Top 30 poll, announced in a report, at www.cccmbca.org, on Feb. 9.
"Going against a team like that, we have to first of all tip your hat to them," Napa Valley coach Steve Ball said. "They do a great job of executing. We've got a script and a game plan to try to defend it. But it's not easy. You've got to jump to the ball. You've got to know that this play means that. It's like taking a final exam rather than just a quiz. So, it's a cumulative final.
"We have to do all the little things, and at spurts, we did that tonight. But we've got to extend that for longer."
Jayden Russotti led Napa Valley (10-16 overall, 6-8 Bay Valley Conference), scoring a game-high 26 points, with five 3-pointers and going 3-of-4 from the free-throw line. The Storm is 6-9 at home and is in seventh place in the conference standings, with two games to go in the 2025-26 regular-season schedule.
Russotti, a freshman guard, has had a big season for the Storm, as he is averaging 16.3 points and 4.1 rebounds per game. He is playing 28.0 minutes per game and has scored 20 or more points in seven games, with a season-high 35-point game against College of Alameda, on Jan. 16.
"He is having a great freshman season. He shoots the basketball really well. He's the ultimate competitor. He wants to compete and not just play. He definitely falls on the compete side of the spectrum," said Ball.
"It's unfortunate that those efforts go to waste sometimes."
Russotti missed four games at the start of the season due to injury.
"He's finally healthy. He's finally putting days, stacking days together, where he's able to stay healthy," said Ball.
Russotti played for Golden State Prep last year.
Nine players scored in the game for the Storm, which also had eight 3-pointers and was 8-of-10 at the free-throw line.
It was AJ Loustau with six points, E'Jay Rogers and Russell Gibson each with five points, AJ McCoy and Andrew Degirolamo each with four points, and Kenny Brown and Jayden Quintana each with three points.
"We didn't take care of the basketball tonight and we didn't take care of the basketball in the second half of the Solano game, either," said Ball. "We need to take care of the basketball to provide us with enough shot attempts to win a game."
Yuba was ahead in the first half, 42-16.
"They're very strong. They execute really well. They stick to their game plan. They know what their strengths are," Ball said of Yuba, which is 9-1 over its last 10 games. "They recognize that that guy's got a mismatch in the post, and they try and get him a touch in the post. They recognize that he's got an advantage on the perimeter, they try and get him the basketball on the perimeter. They do a great job of recognizing those things."
Eleven players scored for Yuba, which had nine 3-pointers and was 27-of-39 from the free-throw line.
Conner Delaby scored 16 points with three 3-pointers.
Isaiah Chandavong and Aidan Triplet each had 14 points.
Javi Sidhu scored 13 points.
Greg Piotrowski had eight points, Cole Epperson and Kanyon Rice each had seven points, and Jonah Gilchrist had five points.
"They're a quality team," said Ball. "I think you get better playing against better teams. Hopefully we can learn from it."
The Storm is averaging 72.4 points per game on 41.2 percent shooting from the field, 31.9 percent from 3-point range, and 68.8 percent from the free-throw line. They are also averaging 37.1 rebounds per game and 14.1 assists per game.
Napa Valley concludes its season with two games this week.
The Storm plays at College of Alameda on Tuesday, Feb. 17 at 6 p.m.
"Sophomore Night" for NVC is Thursday, Feb. 19, when the Storm is at home to face Contra Costa College-San Pablo at 6 p.m.
NVC will honor its five sophomores: E'Jay Rogers, AJ McCoy, Jayden Robinson, Liam Kilroy and Kieran Mannion.
"These sophomores have really invested a lot," said Ball. "(Rogers) has been here for three years now. He redshirted that first year. He could have stepped on the court and probably been our best defender that year as well. (Robinson and Mannion) have just done so much in their two years here. They're the consummate teammates. (McCoy) has only been here one year, but he's made some huge strides in that short amount of time and he's invested in the program.
"I always like to watch the growth of the basketball player, and hopefully they get provided with another opportunity to keep playing."
* 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.