Hollister
Defense was never supposed to be this glamorous.
By outscoring their opponents by nearly 19 points per game, and providing a league-leading defense that allowed just 926 points through 12 games this season – 106 points fewer than their nearest competitor – the San Benito girls basketball team has righted their worst-to-first ship in less than a year, and done so rather convincingly.
Their one blemish came last Friday, when the North Salinas Vikings upended them 51-47. But in a game where the Vikings held a 16-3 lead after one quarter, and a 24-11 lead at the break, the final result could have been something far from the four-point margin that it ended up being.
Last year, when the Lady ‘Balers were 5-7 in the Tri-County Athletic League and held an 8-15 overall record, they finished their season with a sour taste, losing to North Salinas in the finale by a 65-23 margin.
‘Baler Vanessa Farias left the court devastated.
“Wow, they really came over here and really beat us hard,” Farias said last week. “Last year, we were like, ‘Oh my God, I can’t believe this is happening right now.'”
San Benito didn’t make the Central Coast Section playoffs last year for the first time since 1997.
Considering the final taste to the 2006-07 season, the San Benito girls basketball team has bounced back quite impressively.
They went 11-1 in the TCAL this year, compiled a 20-5 overall record, claimed their first-ever TCAL Championship and first league championship since the 2000-01 squad earned the Monterey Bay Athletic League title, and on Sunday, were rewarded with the No. 2 seed in this week’s Central Coast Section DI playoffs.
What a difference a year makes.
With two byes until the quarterfinal round on Saturday, San Benito will play against either No. 15 Salinas (10-16), No. 10 Watsonville (17-7) or No. 7 Gilroy (11-12).
“It’s nice because I think we’re familiar with some of the teams,” coach David Kaplansky said. “It could also work against us because they’re familiar with us, but I think the girls will enter confident.
“We need to increase the intensity in practice (this week) to be at the level we’ll be on Saturday.”
Intensity is a word San Benito uses quite frequently, but if you attend a game – or a practice, for that matter – the word is perhaps an understatement.
“Our defense has really led the way,” Lauren Ademek said, “and we’re bringing it on offense, too.”
Added Kelsey Russell, “The defense carries on to the offense. The intensity just flows over so you just run.”
Ademek, a junior post, came from the junior varsity team last year, and although she feels the JV’s were certainly not lacking in verve, the varsity squad this season has pushed the tempo even further.
“Our mindset has changed throughout the season,” she said. “From that first meeting (with coach David Kaplansky), we knew it was going to be an intense year.”
Kaplansky is in his first year at the helm for San Benito, and with the exuberance he exhibits on the sidelines, he matches the spirit of his players on the court.
“I felt like when we walked into the job, we had a lot of athletes that had success in other sports,” Kaplansky said. “If we could execute and continue to get better throughout the year – that was our goal as a coaching staff.
“They’ve exceeded our expectations.”
In practice, a full-court press, an and-one play, even free-throw attempts are all met with the same fervent, edge-of-your-seat enthusiasm as they are in a game.
But with any championship team, there always seems to be another level.
“This is how it is all the time,” Farias said in regards to an uptempo practice last Tuesday. “Our defense has stepped up …”
