By MARTY JAMES martyjames.sports@gmail.com

After starting out the 2025-26 season with three straight road games, the Napa Valley College women's basketball team opened its home schedule on Thursday with a nonconference game against College of the Redwoods-Eureka.

Nine players scored for the Storm, but they had only one 3-pointer and struggled with their rebounding and also their transition defense in a 61-47 loss.

"Just didn't play well," said Storm coach Paul DeBolt. "We were a little unfocused, I felt like tonight. It's not the end of the world. We will get better. It's a good group of kids."

It was the fourth game in six days for Napa Valley (2-2 overall), which started out the season at the Pasadena City College Sisterhood of Champions Tournament, Nov. 1 and 2. The Storm was also on the road, beating host American River College-Sacramento, 66-45, on Nov. 4.

Jazmine Fontilla was the only player to score in double figures, as she had 10 points against Redwoods. Ashley Torres had nine points and Layla Butler had eight points.

DeBolt said Napa Valley, which has made three straight appearances in the California Community College Athletic Association-Northern California Regional Championships, was "clearly outplayed."

DeBolt said:

"Transition defense has been a concern in the first four games. We've been giving up a lot of layups. Rebounding is a concern. We struggle to make shots. We get good shots and we don't make them. And it can be a little frustrating for a group. I think they're experiencing that right now.

"Our freshmen are getting used to the level, and our sophomores are struggling a little bit. It's just a long season. We'll snap out of it."

Starting the game for Napa Valley was Camille Abcede, Arianna Aguilar, Layla Butler, Jazmine Fontilla and Marticia Pollard.

Pollard scored six points and Aguilar had five points for Napa Valley, which was 8-of-19 from the free-throw line.

Redwoods was up early, 6-0, and the teams were tied 14-14 at the end of the first quarter. Napa Valley used an 8-0 run to take a 14-11 lead.

Redwoods (1-0 overall) outscored the Storm 17-6 in the second quarter and was ahead at halftime, 31-20.

Redwoods went up by 21 points, 50-29.

"It's when we don't get stops, when we don't get defensive rebounds, when we give them multiple shots in a possession, we get in trouble," said DeBolt.

"We made some mistakes. We've struggled in the second quarter, in every game. We couldn't score in the second quarter, and they were able to make it a (11)- point game. We just never really recovered."

Napa Valley was held to six points in the second quarter and nine points in the third quarter.

With 13 players on its roster, Napa Valley has one of its biggest teams. It's a competitive group, DeBolt said.

"When we're playing the basketball that we're capable of playing, we're very good. You have a lot of kids who want to play. They all have strengths and they all have things they're working on," said DeBolt.

"We didn't play well against Taft. I thought we played well against American River and we played well against San Bernardino. Tonight was different. Tonight, we were flat."

NVC opened the season by beating San Bernardino Valley College, 76-45, and losing to Taft College, 67-49.

Redwoods had eight players score in the game, with three players in double figures.

Nora Talty and Mayleah Jackson each had 15 points. Addison Wingate had 11 points and Itzel Torres had nine points.

"We just didn't play up to how we can play. And I give (Redwoods) credit. They played pretty well. They're well coached," said DeBolt.

Redwoods had seven 3-pointers and was 10-of-15 from the free-throw line.

"I think everybody sort of learns from a game like that, hopefully coaches included. It's a competitive level of college basketball. So hopefully, we come in Monday ready to go," said DeBolt.

NVC's next nonconference game is on Nov. 13 at home against Sacramento City College. The Storm returns to practice on Monday, Nov. 10.

"We'll get a chance to kind of retool," said DeBolt. "We continue to put stuff in, and continue to grow and drill."

Last year's NVC team (17-12 overall, 13-3 Bay Valley Conference) 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.

* 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.