Sports
February 11, 2010 |
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McGunagle leads the way in dramatic win
Ray Sullivan Jr. | Sonoma Valley Sun
Junior Steven McGunagle scored 12 of his 19 points during a crucial third-quarter
stretch to help lead the Sonoma Dragons past Healdsburg 57-52 Saturday night on the road.
The win was the second of the season for the Dragons over the Greyhounds, and it improved their league record to 5-4. A loss would have virtually eliminated the Dragons from post-season consideration, but thanks to McGunagle and his teammates, Sonoma now has some control over its playoff destiny.
With one more win in any of the three games the Dragons play this week, the Dragons can secure a spot in the SCL tournament. With a pair of wins and some cooperation from other teams, the Dragons could vault to third place and avoid Analy in the opening-round.
Sonoma built the lead against Healdsburg to 15 points, but appeared to be running out of steam in the late going as the Greyhounds rallied to cut the deficit to three points with just under a minute remaining. Senior Christian Palominos, who finished with eight points, snuck behind the Greyhound defense and gathered in the inbounds pass for an easy layup to seal the victory.
Nathanael Hargitt and Will Rose each had huge games, coming up with eight points apiece off of the bench. Joe Alexander Short tallied nine points and Dylan Severson continued his solid defensive play and stellar rebounding on the way to scoring five points.
Coach Casey Rogina, who has seen his team progress continuously throughout the season, proved prophetic in his pre-game analysis.
While looking somewhat sluggish in the first half, and trailing by three points at halftime, the Dragons used “the necessary energy,” that Rogina so often refers to in the decisive third quarter. Many of McGunagle buckets came as a results of effort in addition to the skill needed to score the ball.
The Dragons were on the road Tuesday night looking to sweep the season series against the Petaluma Trojans, with results unavailable at press time and they travel to Forestville tonight to play El Molino.
The Dragons will play top-ranked Analy (#10 in the recent SF Chronicle rankings with a record of 22-1) on senior night Saturday at Pfeiffer Gym.
SCL Standings as of Feb. 8
Team W L
Analy 9 0
Casa Grande 8 3
Windsor 6 4
Sonoma Valley 5 4
Healdsburg 5 6
Petaluma 2 8
El Molino 0 10
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