SV gives Sonoma Academy a test

Sonoma Academy remained firmly in the North Central League II basketball race by holding off the young St. Vincent Mustangs, 54-42, on Thursday. The host Coyotes were pushed to the limit for most of the contest but steadily managed to pull away from a 40-36 advantage to stay one game in back of Roseland Prep.

The outcome of the game played in Santa Rosa wasn’t as disappointing to Mustang fans as it first appears because St. Vincent battled back its way back into the fray and actually outscored Sonoma Academy from the floor for the entire game. The Mustangs could not shake the fouling bug, however, as Sonoma paraded to the charity stripe and hoisted 32 free throws.

Leading scorer Chance Colbert of Sonoma Academy finished with 17 points after converting on 8-of-16 free throws. The fast-starting Coyotes meshed 10 of their first 17 shots.

St. Vincent, with four sophomores in the starting lineup, fell behind 12-2 in the first period and struggled for most of the game until a basket by Miguel Bunting and a 3-pointer by lanky Rory Morgan introduced excitement into the contest.

The Coyotes went back to the stripe to close out the game with 11 out of 14 points in the final stanza. It was a bit of added frustration for St. Vincent as the Mustangs had to make contact to force any change of possession.

Turnovers bothered St. Vincent most of the way. Casual passes in the back court were picked off by alert Coyote guards, who didn’t have to work too hard to anticipate a lack of creativity on the part of the Mustangs.

Sonoma, coming off a losing effort in a head-to-head game against Roseland earlier in the week, improved to 8-1 in NCL II play and 12-6 for the season. Colbert was supported by Oscar McCauley, who tossed in 12.

Morgan plays in offensive bursts for St. Vincent, and his 3-pointer and steal for a driving lay-up helped generate 15 points.

Bunting, one of the promising sophomores for St. Vincent, knocked in 12 points, including a couple of shots from behind the arc. Gio Antonini cleared the boards with seven rebounds in a short stint on the floor. Late entry Brandon Shannon scored six points.

During the late action, the Mustangs tightened up on the defensive end to make a game of it, highlighted by a rousing shot block by Joe Berniklau. St. Vincent is 4-4 in league play.

Mustang coach Jarred Pengel has stayed positive through the rebuilding season for his club. “A couple of kids are starting to separate and play more consistently in every game. It’s getting tough to take a player like Morgan out of the game because he can do a little of everything for us,” he said.

“I have to remind myself that they are very young. Bunting had a good game, and he has looked more like a varsity player each week. They all need some time off the floor to regroup physically.”

Another tough loss

On the following Saturday, it was more of the same as the Mustangs dropped a 45-43 contest to visiting Technology in DeCarli Gym. St. Vincent got crucial 3-point shots by Bunting and Matt Pierson in the closing minutes to get within two points.

Antonini threw up a desperation put-back shot in the final seconds that bounced off the rim as the game ended.

Morgan and Bunting finished with 10 points each for St. Vincent (5-13) as the Mustangs fell to Technology for the first time in the history of the Rohnert Park School.

Neil Morris scored 11 points for Technology (10-8).