Time to fill Petaluma’s new-look gymnasium

The entire season for the Petaluma High School basketball team comes down to this week. It is a week where the Trojans, after thoughts in the Sonoma County League for the last several years, could actually win the SCL championship.

Beginning play this week, Petaluma, Piner and Analy each had two losses in league play. Petaluma plays both Analy and Piner this week. The good news is that the Trojans get both foes in their home gym. By the time you read this, the Piner game, scheduled for Wednesday, will have already been played. Regardless of the outcome of that contest, the Analy game Friday night looms huge.

Piner did the Trojans a large favor Monday night by beating Analy, 57-47, but the Prospectors still have Sonoma Valley on their schedule, and the Dragons are a very good basketball team and getting better. Sonoma has a very deceiving 2-7 record in league play, but the first time around the SCL schedule, they took Analy into overtime before losing, 67-64, and just lost to Piner, 58-53.

Petaluma’s Trojans were fortunate to survive their visit to the Sonoma gym Monday night. Petaluma did not play poorly against a team with a losing record, but Sonoma played very well. Part of that is tradition - Petaluma teams are always in a dogfight every time they play anything from baseball to badminton at Sonoma. It is not exactly a hex, but it is always a trial. The other thing is that the Dragons are good and their future looks bright with the likes of 6-5 sophomore Max Gustafson and muscular Eric Bailey returning.

But the Trojans did escape with a last-second 49-47 win, and now it is down to one game - Analy. Depending on the outcome of Wednesday’s game, the Trojans might need some help, but regardless, they have to beat Analy. It is that simple.

Here is where this essay has been headed - Petaluma fans need to pack the gym for that game.

Empty or semi-filled gyms have been the norm all season. If gyms were gas tanks, the warning light would have been blinking all year. The student cheering sections have been loud and spirited, but even they have had only a handful of rooters in comparison to what we’ve seen in the past.

Monday night at Sonoma, I had visions of a different time when that historic hall couldn’t accommodate all the fans when Petaluma teams visited.

Granted it was a Monday night, and Sonoma’s boys are having a tough time winning games, but I have sat in near-empty gyms all season. Last week, when the Casa Grande girls played at Maria Carrillo, I sat on one side of the gym and counted the fans across the court. I didn’t have to use all my fingers.

I’m not one to dwell on the “good old days.” For one thing, I have trouble accurately remembering much about those days, but I do remember when packed gyms literally shook from the sound and emotion.

Petaluma High, with its gym overhaul, rightly traded seats for comfort and safety, but I would dearly love to see butts in each of those individual new plastic seats when the Trojans once again play a game that could well decide a championship.

It has been a long time coming.

(Contact John Jackson at johnie.jackson@arguscourier.com)