By MARTY JAMES martyjames.sports@gmail.com
There are some big goals that the Napa Valley College women's basketball team takes into the 2025-26 season.
One goal is to not only reach the California Community College Athletic Association-Northern California Regional Championships, but to also win in the postseason.
Another goal is to host the first playoff game in school history.
Another goal is to attain a 20-win season.
Yet another goal is to win the Bay Valley Conference title.
"There's always things that we can do that haven't been done yet," Storm head coach Paul DeBolt said at the team's Media Day on Oct. 20. "It's a mindset. This is what we're going to put our minds to this year. This is what we're going to do, and we're going to do it together.
"We're trying to get better every year as a program. I think we've made some strides this year recruiting. We got after the recruiting early. We're doing the same thing this year. We're already recruiting. We want to bring good students and good basketball players and good people here."
With 14 players on the roster, Napa Valley has one of its biggest teams in a long time.
There are five sophomores, who return off last year's team that finished in second place in the Bay Valley Conference. The Storm lost in the first round of the 2025 CCCAA-Northern California Regional Championships to Chabot College-Hayward, 76-66.
"Our goal is to win our conference and then to host a playoff game and win a playoff game," said DeBolt. "What we're trying to do is kind of kick it up a notch. The last three years we've been pretty competitive at times.
"We want to win playoff games, not just get to the playoffs. It's about being competitive in the postseason. That's the mindset."
The returning group is led by Arianna Aguilar, a guard, and Jazmine Fontilla, a point guard. They were each named All-Bay Valley Conference for Napa Valley (17-12 overall, 13-3 Bay Valley Conference), which reached the postseason for the third straight year.
"The expectation is to get a banner," said Aguilar. "We're a good team. We haven't gotten a banner in (37) years, so it's due. I think we're the team to get it."
The Storm's other sophomores are Ashley Torres, a guard; Helena White, a forward/post; and Marticia Pollard, a forward/post.
There are nine freshmen on the team.
"I think you can have numbers, but you have to have quality. You have to have talent. You have to have players who complement each other right away. We'd like to compete for the conference championship. That hasn't happened since 1988," said DeBolt.
Napa Valley's 1987-88 team won the conference title.
"There's a big difference between a sophomore and a freshman at this level," said DeBolt. "The sophomores have been through a year of it. They should be leading the freshmen, leading by example. They understand what's going to happen during the season.
"You have to be ready. Having those five sophomores makes a big difference for us, the way that they are just passing on to the freshmen, that this isn't 13th grade. It's a competitive level. You're going to have to earn your time. You're going to have to work hard in practice. You're going to have to get better. You're going to have to be coachable.
"All the sophomores are coachable. The freshmen are coachable. So far, so good."
Napa Valley begins the 2025-26 season at the Pasadena City College Sisterhood of Champions Tournament, a crossover event. Napa Valley faces San Bernardino Valley College on Saturday, Nov. 1 at 3 p.m. The Storm meets Taft College on Sunday, Nov. 2 at 12 p.m.
The Storm has had three straight winning seasons.
"We just need our confidence to build over the next few weeks and few months. So, once conference comes, we'll be ready to go and aim for that first place in conference," said Fontilla.
The Storm continues their road schedule with a game at American River College-Sacramento on Nov. 4.
They will open their home schedule on Nov. 6 against College of the Redwoods-Eureka at 4 p.m.
The Storm's 28-game regular-season schedule includes 13 nonconference games. The Bay Valley Conference season starts in December.
"The returners, I think we're doing a great job at just helping everyone, helping all the freshmen, and you can see their growth," said Aguilar.
"We're going to have a lot more subbing – fresh legs. Last season, we were all gassed by the fourth quarter. But this year, we have a lot of fresh legs that will come on the court and allow some of the key players on the team to take a breather and get back in there with fresher legs, being hydrated. It's a good way to go back in with more energy and fresh legs."
Napa Valley is the host of Storm Surge V, a three-day tournament, Dec. 11-13. The field also has College of the Canyons-Santa Clarita, Diablo Valley College-Pleasant Hill, Los Medanos College-Pittsburg, Porterville College, Rio Hondo College-Whittier, San Jose City College and College of the Siskiyous-Weed.
Last year's NVC team was recognized as among "Best of the Rest" in the final California Community College Women's Basketball Coaches Association State Top 25 Rankings, which was announced by the California Community College Athletic Association, in a report, at www.cccaasports.org, on March 19.
The Storm ended the season with having just six players for its postseason game against Chabot.
"Our five returners that came back are all doing a great job acclimating the new freshmen to the pace and the environment of playing at this level. All the freshmen are super open minded, super coachable, hard-working, so they make it really easy for us to be able to help them catch up to our pace of the game that we're at," said Torres.
"We're able to better rotate our players. All of us bring something to the court. So, it's really nice to have that."
Aguilar and Fontilla each played very well as freshmen last year.
Aguilar averaged 15.7 points per game on 41.8 percent shooting from the floor, 33.3 percent from 3-point distance, and 58.3 percent at the free-throw line in 26 games. Furthermore, she averaged 4.3 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game.
Fontilla averaged 11.7 points on 36.4 percent shooting, 7.3 rebounds, 5.8 assists and 2.4 steals per game in 28 games.
"We have a lot of talent on the team," said Aguilar. "We're just starting preseason, and we're all still trying to understand each other fully. I just want to kind of learn about how the freshmen play, watching the freshmen play against other teams. It's giving me a better understanding of how I can help the freshmen out, or how I can let them understand, like, this isn't high school anymore. I just want to be able to learn not only from them, but my other teammates as well. I'm excited to learn from everyone else."
Torres averaged 7.0 points, 4.3 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game in 24 games last year.
Pollard averaged 5.7 points and 7.3 rebounds per game in 28 games last year.
White averaged 3.9 rebounds per game in 17 games last year.
New to the NVC team are nine freshmen:
* Amya Sims, a point guard from St. Vincent de Paul High School-Petaluma.
* Amiyah Murray, who plays a wing position. Murray is from Wood High School-Vacaville.
* Briana Alday, a guard from Sanger High School (Fresno County).
* Jazelle Bolton, a forward/post player from Pinole Valley High School.
* Kayla Sanchez, a guard from Stockton Christian High School.
* Layla Butler, a point guard from Pinole Valley High School.
* Kaniya Bryant, a guard from American Canyon High School.
* Janelle Harding, a guard from Skyline High School-Oakland.
* Camille Abcede, a guard from American Canyon High School.
"We need to stay healthy, and the team needs to develop," said DeBolt. "It's going to be interesting to see how we develop on offense. Defensively, we're very good right now.
"The numbers are good, but the thing is, they can all play. We've got some size. We've got speed. We're a different kind of a team than we've been. And I think teams are going to figure that out really fast, that we're not a regular Napa team. We're moving in the right direction."
NVC superstar transfers to Bellarmine University
Rose Jamison did it all in her three years at Napa Valley – graduating and earning AA degrees in kinesiology and criminal justice, establishing three all-time school scoring records, becoming the first NVC women's player to receive a Division-I basketball scholarship, earning All-Conference and All-State honors.
Jamison transferred to Bellarmine University of Louisville, Kentucky, where she will play for the NCAA-Division I Knights on a full-ride athletic scholarship.
"In my mind, Rose was the best player in our conference last year. I didn't see a better player in our conference last year. She proved it, getting a Division I scholarship. She carried us the entire year in many, many ways," said NVC coach Paul DeBolt.
Jamison ended her outstanding NVC career with three all-time school scoring records:
* Points in a single game: 45-point game, against Yuba College-Marysville, on 17-of-31 shooting from the floor, 5-of-12 shooting from 3-point range, 6-of-7 from the free-throw line, along with 13 rebounds, three assists and three steals.
* Points in a single season: 615.
* Points in a career: 1,112.
Jamison was sensational last year for the Storm, averaging 22.0 points per game on 46.0 percent shooting from the floor, 28.4 percent shooting from 3-point distance, and 73.8 percent from the free-throw line. She also averaged 11.3 rebounds, 4.5 assists, 2.6 steals and 1.9 blocks per game.
She was named to the California Community College Women's Basketball Coaches Association 2024-25 All-State team. She was selected third-team All-State.
Jamison was named All-Bay Valley Conference.
She was also named to the Bay Valley's All-Academic team.
NVC coaching staff Paul DeBolt has four assistant coaches, including Zack Cook, on his staff. Cook is a former Napa High head boys basketball coach and former Vintage High head girls basketball coach. Cook is in his fourth year with the Storm.
New to the program are Keith Allison, Will Bullard and Anika Carey.
"Having four coaches who have experience, they all are contributing in their own ways. It's just a wonderful group of coaches," said DeBolt.
Allison is a former Contra Costa College-San Pablo head coach. Allison was also an assistant at Contra Costa when DeBolt was the Comets' head coach.
"Having Keith here, it's really good. He knows technique. He's a great shooting teacher. Can develop talent. He's a very big asset," said DeBolt.
Bullard played for the Harlem Globetrotters and is also the head girls basketball coach at St. Vincent de Paul High School-Petaluma.
"He's been running our strength and conditioning and just really has a good basketball mind, gets the game. He's a motivator. He's really just such a valuable addition," said DeBolt.
Carey played two years at Cal Maritime (Vallejo) as a guard. Carey averaged 6.4 points and 6.8 rebounds per game during the 2022-23 season. She averaged 7 points, 3.5 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game during the 2023-24 season.
"She's amazing. She just immediately got the players attention," said DeBolt.
Ranking among coaching greats in the state
Paul DeBolt, who is in his seventh year at Napa Valley, ranks fifth for wins all-time in California community college women's basketball history. His record is 626-440.
He became only the fourth head coach in California community college history to coach 1,000 games, a milestone, and the first one to do it in Northern California, in 2023.
As the head coach at Contra Costa for 30 years (1986-2016), DeBolt led one of the top programs in the state, with the Comets winning 11 Bay Valley Conference titles, making 19 postseason appearances, and finishing as the state runner-up at the California Community College Athletic Association state tournament in 2001 and 2003.
DeBolt also led Contra Costa to three state final four berths, four state elite eight berths, and seven state Sweet 16 berths.
He was named as the California Community College Women's Basketball Coaches Association State Coach of the Year during the 2000-2001 season. In addition, he is a three-time CCCWBCA Junior College Region 8 Coach of the Year and an eight-time BVC Coach of the Year.
* 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.