by Mike Finnerty (mike.finnerty@surewestsports.com)
If there was one clear and obvious theme in Christian Brothers' 55-43 home win over Bella Vista Thursday night, it was defensive pressure.
In this Capital Valley League opener, the No. 14 ranked Falcons (11-5, 1-0) attacked early and often with one steal after another, leading to several fast break opportunities and 14-4 lead after the first, and a 21-4 advantage with 6:25 left in the half.
"Our girls came out, played hard, controlled the tempo, put a lot of pressure on them with our press, turned them over, things went really well for us the first half," said Christian Brothers head coach Ron Gully.
Niel Valmores, a 5'5" junior guard for the Falcons, led the team in scoring with 19 points that included three, 3-pointers.
"What I was most pleased with tonight is our Neil Valamores," said Gully. "She got hurt early in the year, tore a partial ligament in the thumb, and tonight she is just finally getting her legs back and thats going to help us."
Two other Christian Brothers players scored in double figures with sophomore Alicia Gonzalez pouring in 17 points. Gonzalez knocked down a three, was perfect from the line (6 for 6), and was the finisher and several fast break points.
"Anna Burch was big. She had a 11 points tonight and she's consistently leading our team in rebounding. Also big tonight was our sophomore Alicia Gonzalez. She hit some key shots and did really well tonight.
Credit goes to a short handed Bella Vista team that fought back and chipped away at the lead.
The Broncos cut it to a 27-15 game by half, and 29-21 early in the third, but Burch went on scoring run spree for Christian Brothers with nine points in the third to push the advantage to 40-24 by the end of the quarter.
"We played as a team very well tonight. The way we play, it can't just be one or two people, it's got to be all five out there."
The win over Bella Vista was Christian Brothers' fifth straight highlighted by a 53-49 victory over arch rival and No. 10 St. Francis last Friday.
Christian Brothers will look to continue the streak and to stay unbeaten in league next week with home games against Oakmont and Rio Linda.