San Benito shuts Notre Dame out in the first quarter en route to
a 59-27 win, the Lady ‘Balers’ 10th victory in a row
HOLLISTER
If the offense isn’t necessarily clicking for the San Benito Lady ‘Balers, the defense usually is.
Such was the case Wednesday night at Mattson Gym where although San Benito missed many open looks, they shut down and shut out visiting Notre Dame in the first quarter and easily stifled the Spirits 59-27 for their 10th straight victory.
Vanessa Farias led all scorers with 13 points, while teammates Kelsey Russell added 11 and Victoria Aguilera chimed in with 10.
None were perhaps bigger than Russell’s 11, though.
“I think this was my game-high,” said Russell, who is usually recognized for her lockdown defense. “My coaches have been pushing me for offense, so I had to just take the shot if I was open.”
Russell was 5 of 8 from the field and showcased a mid-range jumper that had her pocket all 11 of her points in the second half.
“I think Mari Vallejo and Kelsey Russell did a great job,” San Benito head coach David Kaplansky said. “They both had their best games of the year, by far.”
The sophomore Vallejo, who started the season on the junior varsity team, scored six points for the Lady ‘Balers.
“Usually we’re used to passing it to our bigs,” Russell said. “[Notre Dame] was letting us open around the perimeter a lot.”
San Benito (4-0 TCAL, 14-3), meanwhile, wasn’t allowing many open shots, especially in the first quarter.
The Spirits (2-2 TCAL, 5-12), which were coming off a 66-36 win over Everett Alvarez, were held scoreless for the first eight minutes and 32 seconds of regulation Wednesday, a stretch that included all of the first quarter.
It’s the fourth time this season the Lady ‘Balers have shut out an opponent in a single period. Notre Dame was held to 0 of 10 shooting in the first, and were 1 of 13 when Spirit Shanae Gasperson finally put her team up on the scoreboard early in the second stanza.
But at that point, the Lady ‘Balers led 16-2.
“The first half was great,” Kaplansky sad. “We played good full-court defense. We rotated well and caused a bunch of turnovers, and that’s what we do to teams.”
“I think they gave us so many open looks. We kind of struggled from the perimeter, but ultimately it was a 32-point win … We weren’t the best tonight from the field, but we made it up with defense and transition buckets.”
The Lady ‘Balers had several open shots, and took 37 more attempts from the field than Notre Dame. But the tone was set from the start when Farias nailed a 3-pointer in the opening seconds and San Benito opened a 14-0 first-quarter lead.
The Lady ‘Balers made it an 18-point lead by halftime behind a 10-2 run in the second quarter, highlighted by a pair of pretty baby hooks from Aguilera, who scored six of her 10 points in the second period.
San Benito opened the second half on another 10-2 run as well, and eventually carried a comfortable 43-20 lead to the final period.
The Lady ‘Balers made it a point to shut down Notre Dame’s two leading scorers, Gasperson and Brittney Giammanco, who combined for 24 of the team’s 27 points. Early on in the first half, though, the two Spirits were limited to two and seven points, respectively.
“I would have liked to have seen a better defensive effort in the second half,” Kaplansky said, “but ultimately I felt they played to the lead.
“We were really focused on Gasperson and Giammanco. We identified them and they didn’t start scoring until the fourth period. I felt like in the first two quarters, the girls really stepped up and played good defense.”
Along with Russell, San Benito’s Lauren Ademek came off the bench and scored eight points on 3 of 4 shooting. On the night, the Lady ‘Balers bench outscored Notre Dame’s 27-2.
San Benito will host Alisal Friday at Mattson Gym at 7 p.m.
Notes:
San Benito shot 31 percent (24 of 78) from the field, 8 of 17 from the line … Notre Dame was 22 percent (9 of 41) from the field, 7 of 18 from the line … San Benito forced 23 turnovers, while the Spirits forced 12.
TEAM 1 2 3 4 F
ND 0 11 9 7 27
SB 14 15 14 16 59
Notre Dame (27) – C. Villalpando 1-2 0-2 2, S. Gasperson 3-8 6-12 12, B.Giammanco 5-21 0-0 12, M Busch 0-2 1-2 1.
Three-point goals – B. Giammanco 2.
San Benito (59) – K. Russell 5-8 1-2 11, L. Ademek 3-4 2-4 8, V. Aguilera 5-9 0-2 10, M. Halstead 1-6 1-2 3, V. Casalegno 1-6 2-5 4, V. Farias 4-18 2-2 13, E. Glasspool 1-9 0-0 2, J. Guerrero 1-2 0-0 2, M. Vallejo 3-12 0-0 6.
Three-point goals – V. Farias 3.
JV Note:
Despite being outscored 19-10 in the fourth quarter, the San Benito junior varsity girls basketball team held on to defeat visiting Notre Dame 39-35 Wednesday at Hollister’s Mattson Gym.
San Benito’s Amanda Byron had a double-double in the win, scoring 10 points while pulling down 10 boards.
The Lady ‘Balers are now 3-1 in the Tri-County Athletic League, 13-2 overall.
“A great battle. Notre Dame played a very good game,” San Benito head coach Karen Fortino said. “They pressed and we were able to break their press quite a few times.
“But they came on very, very hard in the fourth quarter, and luckily we were able to pull out the win.”
The Lady ‘Balers led 29-16 through three quarters of play.
Michelle Fortino had nine points for San Benito, which will host Alisal Friday at Mattson Gym.
Tip-off is at 5:30 p.m.
“It was a very good team effort,” Fortino said.
TEAM 1 2 3 4 F
ND 8 7 1 19 35
SB 8 10 11 10 39
