Erin Glasspool drained five 3-pointers and a team-high 19
points, Mari Vallejo and Nicole Rianda each tacked on 11 points,
and the San Benito girls’ basketball team closed out the regular
season with a 65-34 victory over host Everett Alvarez on Tuesday
night.
SALINAS
Erin Glasspool drained five 3-pointers and a team-high 19 points, Mari Vallejo and Nicole Rianda each tacked on 11 points, and the San Benito girls’ basketball team closed out the regular season with a 65-34 victory over host Everett Alvarez on Tuesday night.
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Glasspool’s five treys anchored San Benito’s long-distance attack, which included eight 3-pointers on the night. Cyrena Salinas, Vallejo and Jackie Echaorre each added a 3-point basket.
“We played a great second half and the kids shot the ball really well,” said San Benito head coach David Kaplansky, whose Balers outscored the Eagles by a 33-15 margin in the third and fourth quarters.
San Benito’s long-range prowess was coupled with its increasing ability to attack the rim. The inside game resulted in frequent trips to the free-throw line, where the Balers shot 17 of 27 in the game.
“That helps us open up our offense. It’s made us more diverse,” Kaplansky said.
The balanced attack was also evident in the box score, which included nine different scorers for San Benito on Tuesday night. Jackie Echaorre had nine points in the game, while Kelsey Robledo added five and both Cyrena Salinas and Madeleine LePore each had three.
Although San Benito has been led by Rianda in recent games, Alvarez focused its attention on the Baler big Tuesday, throwing double teams at her defensively.
She still scored 11 points, but also managed to pass off to the open player, which only aided in San Benito’s balanced offense.
“She was seeing the open player and we made shots,” Kaplansky said.
He later added, “It was nice tonight. The kids felt confident and were making their shots.”
San Benito, which improves to 8-4 in the Tri-County Athletic League, 16-8 overall, will now wait to hear its seed in next week’s Central Coast Section Division I Championships.
Seedings and matchups will be announced this weekend in San Jose.
TEAM 1 2 3 4 F
SB 14 18 17 16 65
EA 8 11 8 7 34
San Benito (65): E. Glasspool 0 5 4-6 19, C. Salinas 0 1 0-2 3, M. Vallejo 3 1 2-3 11, T. Fabing 1 0 0-0 2, M. LePore 1 0 1-2 3, K. Robledo 2 0 1-2 5, N. Rianda 3 0 5-8 11, E. Burley 1 0 0-0 2, J. Echaorre 1 1 4-4 9.
