GALT — The Napa High School girls basketball team is one step closer to Arco Arena and a CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division I championship with their 63-45 victory over Golden Valley Saturday afternoon.

In typical Napa High girls basketball fashion, the Indians let their tough pressure defense hound the Golden Valley offense, making it difficult for the Cougars to get any good looks at the basket. Golden Valley still played the Indians tough, but Napa would only allow them to have the lead in the first quarter before coming back and tying it up at 10 apiece with 3:56 left in the first on a Karyn Franco three-point shot.

Franco had all 15 of her points come from outside the arc.

“I’m really happy with the way Karyn played,” head coach Darci Lewis said. “She really stepped it up offensively.”

Nicoletta Geyer (26 points, 11 rebounds) extended the Indians’ lead with two buckets with a minute to go in the first and Lindsey Dreher went underneath for two points of her own, putting Napa up 19-12. Golden Valley’s Laticia Booker hit a jumper at the buzzer to end the first quarter, but Napa had gained the momentum and wouldn’t let it go the rest of the game.

The Indians went on a scoring barrage in the second quarter when Geyer stole the ball and converted for two points. Dreher turned around after that play to steal it again from the Cougars and found Geyer underneath for an easy bucket, increasing Napa’s lead to 23-16 with 6:46 left in the first half.

The Napa defense was at it again when Geyer intercepted a Golden Valley pass and drove it down for a layup 10 seconds later. Cougars’ head coach Matt Thissen called a timeout to try and freeze the Indians’ hot streak but no sooner did the teams get back on the court than Dreher had another steal. Dreher passed to Geyer up top who swung the ball over to Franco for one of her treys, making it 28-16 with just over six minutes to go in the half.

Napa got help from its bench in the form of Nina Pardo (eight points), who hit a jumper inside and followed it up with an offensive board and the put back.

“Nina did a phenomenal job,” Lewis said. “She did an excellent job of boxing out and coming off the bench and scoring when Katie (Keilig) was in foul trouble.”

The Cougars’ Kim Spinardi (22 points) hit a turnaround jumper to get Golden Valley back in the action but the Indians had already pulled too far ahead. Napa closed the first half still on top 35-22.

The Indians didn’t let up in the third quarter and picked right back up where they had left off at halftime with Katie Keilig (nine points, six rebounds, six assists) nailing a long two-point shot just inside the paint. Spinardi followed with one of her four treys but the Indians’ offense would not relinquish.

While the Cougars continued to fight through the second half, Napa kept its scoring cushion which was extended when Pardo got another bucket underneath and Franco scored from the outside again. Pardo followed it up with an intercepted pass and Geyer converted on the play with a bucket to put the Indians up 46-32 with 2:05 left in the third.

Napa’s defense was in typical form again when Keilig intercepted another pass and went back downcourt for the score. The Indians had a 15-point lead, 48-33, going into the final quarter of play.

Even with their lead, the Indians still used the fourth quarter to keep the Cougars at bay with more defense. Heather Gunderson had a steal and found Keilig for the layup.

“Heather had a great game despite not being on with her shooting. She understands the pressure defense and she is a smart and consistent player. We really needed her veteran leadership out there on the court and she definitely stepped up,” Lewis said.

Napa went on to score 15 more points in the fourth quarter to seal its victory over the Cougars.

“I’m really pleased with their performance today,” Lewis said. “We had heard Spinardi was their shooter and (Kelly) Leonardo was also a strong competitor for them so we knew what we were up against. We knew they had a zone defense so we practiced our offense to work around that. We had a great practice to prepare us for this game.”

Napa will face the winner of the Kennedy-Davis match-up on Wednesday at a time still to be determined at University of the Pacific in Stockton.