Tyler Rickard leads ‘Balers with 16 points, but San Benito’s
five-game win streak snapped
HOLLISTER
After losing their first four games in league, the San Benito High boys basketball team had won five straight and were quickly becoming the Tri-County Athletic League’s version of The Avengers.
On Thursday, the Haybalers were looking to make it a sweet six against the visiting Palma Chieftains, which had previously routed San Benito 65-38 on Jan. 20 in Salinas.
And for all of two minutes in the fourth quarter, it appeared that the ‘Balers were going to upset the TCALs top team and avenge their early-season loss. But Palma’s Madison Calder dropped a season-high 24 points behind 6 of 12 shooting from the field, 9 of 10 from the free throw line, and led the Chieftains past San Benito 54-51 Thursday night.
Calder, who also connected on three 3-pointers, scored seven of Chieftains’ nine points in the last two minutes of the game and helped pull Palma away from the ‘Balers, which held a 45-43 lead with 2:35 remaining.
“We turned the ball over at the wrong time, and then they hit those big shots,” San Benito head coach John Becerra said. “Just three points. That’s it.”
The fourth quarter was back-and-forth, as each time the ‘Balers nailed a seemingly key basket, Palma would respond with one of their own.
San Benito’s Eric Elayda hit a clutch trey with 6:17 left to put the ‘Balers up by four in the fourth quarter. But Palma’s Michael Cahalan hit a 3 just 10 seconds later to erase the deficit.
Coming out of a timeout ‘Baler Tyler Rickard, who led San Benito with a team-high 16 points, sunk a jumper then hit a 3-pointer on back-to-back possessions that put the Haybalers up 43-37 with 4:42 left.
But once again, Palma responded when Cahalan and teammate Dennis Torres hit back-to-back 3’s that knotted the game at 43-all with 3:10 left.
Not until the Chieftains tied the game at 45-all with 2:30 left did San Benito fail to respond, while Palma kept moving forward when Calder hit another 3-pointer to make it 48-45 with 1:30 remaining.
The ‘Balers never reclaimed the lead.
On their next two offensive possessions, San Benito took an errant shot to beat a shot clock violation, and then turned the ball over as Palma built a seven-point lead in the process, the largest lead by either team in the game.
“The kids were working hard, and we left them open for one shot and they made it,” Becerra said. “In another game, maybe they miss it. But tonight they made it.
“But I thought our kids played great defense.”
Although the ‘Balers shot 43 percent (21 of 49) from the field, compared to Palma’s 31 percent (18 of 58), the Chieftains held a 17-5 advantage in the foul department, and made 11 of 18 from the line.
San Benito, meanwhile, was 3 of 6.
Cahalan finished with 10 points, while Paul Marcroft added 12.
Rickard’s 16 included a 6 of 11 performance from the field and three 3-pointers, while Dominic Zanella had 10 points and seven rebounds.
“I think we played better defense in the last three minutes, but I think Hollister, for the most part, kind of outplayed us,” Palma head coach Paul Alioto said. “They took it to us, were more aggressive on both ends of the floor, and we kind of left Rickard open several times.
“But I give the kids a lot of credit because they battled through some missed shots and poor play. They came back and it seemed like we made every open shot late, which was huge.”
Neither team got off to a strong start on Thursday, as San Benito and Palma combined for just three field goals through the first five minutes of regulation, leading to lowly 9-7 Chieftain lead after one quarter.
But after San Benito outscored Palma 15-11 in the second stanza and took a slim 22-20 lead to halftime, the Chieftains responded with a 12-7 third quarter and held a 32-31 lead going into the final period.
“He played us mostly zone in the first game and they came back and played mostly man, so they were a little more aggressive,” Alioto said. “We just had to get used to them kind of hitting us in the mouth, so to speak.
“They weren’t playing us dirty, they were playing us tough.”
At 5-5 in the TCAL and 13-11 overall, the ‘Balers have two games remaining against Alisal and Salinas that are crucial toward the team’s postseason aspirations.
On Tuesday, San Benito will host Alisal at 7 p.m.
“We’re right there,” Becerra said.
TEAM 1 2 3 4 F
PALM 9 11 12 22 54
SANB 7 15 9 20 51
Palma (54): C. Benavente 1-7 0-4 2, M. Cahalan 4-13 0-0 10, M. Calder 6-12 9-10 24, P. Marcroft 5-11 2-4 12, C. Plascencia 1-2 0-0 3, D. Torres 1-3 0-0 3.
Three-point goals: M. Cahalan 2, M. Calder 3, C. Plascencia 1, D. Torres 1.
San Benito (51): J. Canchola 2-6 0-0 4, E. Elayda 3-8 0-0 7, C. Sepulveda 2-4 3-6 7, T. Rickard 6-11 0-0 16, T. Von Urff 1-4 0-0 2, K. Vallejo 2-5 0-0 5, D. Zanella 5-11 0-0 10.
Three-point goals: E. Elayda 1, T. Rickard 3, K. Vallejo 1.
