NVC women's basketball advances to NorCal Regionals for fourth straight year
By MARTY JAMES
Napa Valley College will be making its fourth straight postseason appearance when it faces host Sacramento City College on Wednesday, Feb. 25 at 7 p.m. in the first round of the 2026 California Community College Athletic Association Women's Basketball Northern California Regionals.
The 24-team field for the NorCal regionals was announced on Sunday. A seeding meeting was held at San Joaquin Delta College-Stockton.
Napa Valley (19-8 overall, 8-6 Bay Valley Conference) is the No. 19 seed. The Storm finished in fourth place in the conference standings and is 7-3 in its last 10 games.
Sacramento City (13-15 overall, 7-9 Big 8 Conference) is the No. 14 seed. Sac City finished in fifth place in the conference standings and is 3-7 in its last 10 games. Sac City goes into the postseason having lost three straight games.
Napa Valley and Sacramento City met in a nonconference game earlier in the season. The Storm won, 73-60, on Nov. 13, as Layla Butler scored 16 points. Arianna Aguilar and Jazmine Fontilla each had 14 points.
"It should be a good game. We're pretty evenly matched teams," Storm coach Paul DeBolt said Sunday. "We get to play close to home. We get to play a good opponent, a familiar opponent. We're excited. We'll prepare the next few days and get up there and see what happens."
Napa Valley was 0-3 to start the Bay Valley Conference season. The Storm turned things around.
"We struggled a little bit, a couple of times during the year, and we had some injuries," said DeBolt. "We had to win some big games down the stretch to get to where we're at. The sophomores and a few of the freshmen really stepped up. I think we're in a good spot."
The Storm is led by Jazmine Fontilla, who is averaging 16.4 points, 4.5 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game.
Arianna Aguilar is averaging 14.6 points and 4.6 rebounds per game.
Layla Butler is averaging 9.0 points, 4.4 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game.
Marticia Pollard is averaging 8.7 points and 7.6 rebounds per game.
DeBolt said he is proud of the fact that Napa Valley is continuing its run of advancing to the playoffs.
"I'm really proud that we've been able to establish a level that will get us into the postseason," he said. "We kind of had our eyes set to be a little higher in the seeding this year.
"The goal is not just to get there, but to get there and win some games. And we did three years ago. We beat Siskiyous on the road. We're trying to take them one at a time, trying to get another playoff win for Napa Valley."
Napa Valley attained its first-ever playoff win when it beat College of the Siskiyous, in Weed, 92-80, in 2023.
Also advancing to the playoffs from the Bay Valley Conference is No. 3 seed Laney College-Oakland, No. 15 seed Los Medanos College-Pittsburg and No. 24 seed Merritt College-Oakland.
The winner of the Napa Valley-Sacramento City game advances to face Laney on Saturday, Feb. 28.
Receiving first-round byes were No. 1 San Joaquin Delta-Stockton, No. 2 Folsom Lake, No. 3 Laney, No. 4 Fresno City, No. 5 Santa Rosa Junior College, No. 6 Butte-Oroville, No. 7 City College of San Francisco, No. 8 College of the Sequoias-Visalia.
In other first-round games, on Wednesday, Feb. 25:
* No. 16 Reedley-No. 17 Modesto Junior College.
* No. 9 Sierra-Rocklin-No. 24 Merritt-Oakland.
* No. 12 College of the Redwoods-Eureka-No. 21 Hartnell-Salinas.
* No. 13 Skyline-San Bruino-No. 20 Taft.
* No. 15 Los Medanos-Pittsburg-No. 18 Siskiyous.
* No. 10 Lemoore-No. 23 College of San Mateo.
* No. 11 San Jose City-No. 22 Cosumnes River-Sacramento.
Napa Valley is listed among others in the final regular-season California Community College Women's Basketball Coaches Association State Top 25, announced in a report on Feb. 22, by the California Community College Athletic Association, at cccaasports.org.
The Storm is averaging 68.4 points per game on 40.2 percent shooting from the field, 26.5 percent from the 3-point line, and 58.9 percent from the free-throw line. They are averaging 45.2 rebounds per game and 17.2 assists per game.
The 3C2A Southern California Regionals are led by No. 1 seed Mt. San Antonio College-Walnut and No. 2 seed Irvine Valley.
The 2026 3C2A Women's Basketball Championships are March 12, 14 and 15 at College of the Sequoias-Visalia.
* 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.