Team goes 3-0 so far in league play with overall 12-4 record
When Baler first-year girls basketball coach David Kaplansky
took over the team this year, he knew that he had the luxury of a
talent-rich roster
– a squad of girls who could go a long way if they worked hard
and bought into his coaching philosophy.
Team goes 3-0 so far in league play with overall 12-4 record
When Baler first-year girls basketball coach David Kaplansky took over the team this year, he knew that he had the luxury of a talent-rich roster – a squad of girls who could go a long way if they worked hard and bought into his coaching philosophy.
Evidently, the Lady Balers not only bought into the Kaplansky philosophy hook, line and sinker but have now parlayed it into a season that’s becoming more memorable by the minute.
As of The Pinnacle’s press time the Balers were 12-4 overall this season and a perfect 3-0 in league play – and the former head coach of the boys’ squad couldn’t be more pleased.
“We’re really coming together as a team,” Kaplansky said. “The girls have done a good job executing what they’ve been taught. The consistency on defense has been terrific. They’ve done a wonderful job and have bought into ball pressure, rotation and playing 94 feet of defense.”
This season the Balers are getting the job done around a nucleus of players that have played tenaciously on both ends of the floor.
Led by guard Vanessa Farias, who is averaging just over 13 points a contest, the Balers are winning with solid defense, crisp passing and clutch baskets at the right time.
“I’ll be honest, it’s a lot harder for us to score compared to the guys teams I’ve coached, which had players from 6-foot-4 to 6-foot-7. The girls are typically anywhere from 6-feet to 5-foot-3,” Kaplansky said. “But I will say defensively these girls work as hard or harder, and that gives us strong character.”
In addition to Farias, the Balers have relied heavily on the play of Elena Fata and Bri Romero to get the job done on the court. Romero, a 5-foot-9 forward, and Fata, a 5-foot-3 guard, have shown great leadership and athleticism on the court, according to Kaplansky.
“Elena is tough. She does a great job leading the team and getting the offense set up,” he said. “Bri brings leadership and toughness up from the other sports that she plays (volleyball and softball). She plays hard and it motivates the girls.”
According to Kaplansky Romero’s contributions on the court would be hard to replace.
“She does an awful lot of things that don’t show up on the stats sheet,” he said. “She gets a lot of balls and deflections for us. She does a great job creating deflections for us and is a team player.”
Fata on the other hand is a statistical lead in just about every category. She is second in scoring with more than 10 points a contest, and is second in three-point shooting, which exemplifies her ability to drive the lanes and draw fouls.
While the boys varsity head coach, Kaplansky led the Balers boys to league titles in both the 2004 and 2005 seasons before advancing those years to the Central Coast Section semifinals. This year, he’d like to see the girls do the same, or even more.
“I compared this season to a hurdle race,” he said. “First we clear one hurdle. That was Salinas. The second was Notre Dame, then Gilroy. We take it week by week to set the stage for North Salinas. That will be a big game for our program.”
As of The Pinnacle’s press time the Vikings had a record of 1-1 in league play and were 9-5 overall – the only remaining team in league with a winning record who the Balers haven’t played yet. San Benito will face North Salinas at home on Jan. 25. A win in that game would give the squad from Hollister the upper hand in the seven-team race to win the Tri County Athletic League title. From there, it’s on to the Central Coast Section playoffs.
“I’ve seen a couple of the top teams in the Section play,” Kaplansky said. “And these girls should do well against them. They play every game as if it’s there last. They leave everything on the floor every game. I think if we continue to do that we should be able to compete in the playoffs.”
