Game against Alisal could decide if SBHS boys go to playoffs
It’s been more than 10 years since the San Benito High boys’
varsity basketball team failed to make the playoffs, but without a
home win tonight against third-place Alisal the streak could come
to a close.
Game against Alisal could decide if SBHS boys go to playoffs
It’s been more than 10 years since the San Benito High boys’ varsity basketball team failed to make the playoffs, but without a home win tonight against third-place Alisal the streak could come to a close.
“We need to win two of the final three games,” Baler coach John Becerra said Tuesday. “We need to find a way to win on Friday against Alisal before closing out the season at North Salinas. We’re struggling right now but we’re in a very tough league. ”
Just last week, the unranked Balers had back-to-back home games against Palma, the No. 4 ranked team in the Central Coast Section, and Gilroy, which is currently ranked ninth in CCS.
Although Alisal might not have the height of a Gilroy team or the weapons of a Palma team, the Trojans were ranked as high as 15th in the section this year, and they are still well over the .500 mark this season overall – which is the magic number for automatic qualification into the section playoffs.
“All of the teams down the stretch are strong,” Becerra said. “We’re going to have to play well to win any game.”
This season the Balers – although the team’s defense has been strong – has struggled to put up points against many of the bigger teams in the league.
Early on in the season the Balers were plagued by turnovers. Now they are passing the ball better but players such as Todd Janisch, who has averaged nearly 17 points a contest this year, and Marty Bueno, who has helped solidify the Baler backcourt, have been double-teamed often, which has hampered the team’s ability to run up points.
In fact, the Balers highest offensive output of the season came last month at Gilroy High, where they racked up 70 points to upset the Mustangs by a 70-62 margin.
“A lot of the teams in this league are scoring 80 and 90 points a game while we’re scoring 50-something,” Becerra said. “And now they are all clamping down on Janisch, too, which has made it a lot more difficult. We’ve really got to find a different way to attack.”
The three main players who will lead the attack for the Trojans tonight are Elias Rivera, Jonathan Sosa and Christian Comacho. All three are averaging double figures in scoring each game.
“We’re just going to need to play well and be patient on offense,” Becerra said. “We can’t just go down the court and take the quick shot. We seem to do that a lot.”
Becerra knows that if his team does somehow slip in through the playoff cracks and earns a spot that the road will be a difficult one, as the Balers would most likely be one of the lowest seeds in the tournament.
In that scenario they would most likely square off against a team like No. 3 ranked Oak Grove or one of the perennial powerhouse schools of the West Catholic League – and that’s when size will also become a factor.
“Look at Gilroy or some of these other schools. They’ve got two guys that are 6-foot-10 and another guy who is 6-foot-8. Our guys are 6-foot-1 and 6-foot-2. Our starting guard (Bueno) is only 5-foot-6. So it’s going to be tough. But who knows – in the playoffs things can happen. We just want to first get there.”
John Bagley can be reached at
jb*****@pi**********.com
.
