It may have been a loss, but coach John Becerra is hoping to
build upon Saturday night’s boys basketball game at
Watsonville.
Watsonville
It may have been a loss, but coach John Becerra is hoping to build upon Saturday night’s boys basketball game at Watsonville.
Considered by some to be one of the top teams in the Monterey Bay area, Watsonville eked out a 55-51 win against a visiting San Benito squad.
Brian Haggett contributed 11 points, five rebounds and three assists, and Tyler Ruiz had 11 points to go along with four rebounds, two steals and two assists for the Haybalers, who lost for the first time in their last four games.
Despite a slim lead late in the third quarter, however, the Haybalers could not pull out the upset. With the loss, San Benito is 5-4 overall.
“They’re good. They’ve got a couple of players who are extremely good,” Becerra said. “It’s always tough, especially when you’re right there – close with just a few key plays. But we’re not there yet.”
The coach commented on his team’s lack of discipline Saturday. Specifically, San Benito committed some untimely fouls as well as some hurried scoring chances that put them at a disadvantage.
“We were going a little too fast when we missed some lay-ups,” Becerra said. “We were in too much of a hurry and we missed those shots. And we committed fouls when we didn’t have to.”
Becerra noted that his San Benito squad played more aggressive and with more hustle than Watsonville, but, he said, “We let our emotions get in the way of just playing the game.”
Neither team managed to get a comfortable lead in the game, and Becerra called it a back-and-forth, hard-fought battle.
Marty Bueno and Dominic Zanella each added eight points in the contest. Becerra highlighted the defense of Haggett – who was asked to cover Watsonville’s leading scorer, Craig Mitchell (18.8 ppg) – and the rebounding of Zanella, who pulled down four boards.
Watsonville improves to 10-2, and were recently crowned champs of the Aptos Seascape Resort Invitational. They also improve to 4-1 against Tri-County Athletic League opponents, with wins coming against Everett Alvarez (83-47), Salinas (79-68) and Gilroy (72-57). Their lone loss was to Palma (78-76).
“I think we’re getting better game by game,” Becerra said. “Everyone played well. No one played poorly.”
San Benito will have two games this week before the holiday break. Today, they’ll play at Seaside for a 7 p.m. game against the Spartans. On Friday, the ‘Balers will play their home-opener at Mattson Gym against Santa Cruz. Tip-off is 7 p.m.
Team 1 2 3 4 F
SB 16 9 14 12 51
WAT 19 9 13 14 55
SB (51) – Bueno 1 2 0 8, Burley 2 0 0 4, Haggett 4 1 0 11, Ruiz 4 0 3 11, Zanella 4 0 0 8, Pina 0 1 0 3, VonUrff 3 0 0 6.
Girls Junior Varsity Basketball
Aptos 44, San Benito 31
San Benito 51, Harbor 23
Santa Cruz
The San Benito junior varsity girls basketball team split their two previous games to Aptos and Harbor last week.
On Thursday, San Benito received seven points from Kim Warner and six points each from Cassie Pate and Arielle Rianda, but fell to visiting Aptos 44-31.
“I was very happy with the game,” coach Karen Fortino said. “The girls are definitely improving, and I am happy with that.”
Fortino noted the improvement since the previous match with Aptos on Nov. 21, when San Benito lost 58-12.
“The ‘Balers showed a lot of improvement in ball movement,” the coach said.
The following night on Friday, San Benito traveled to Harbor and delivered an impressive 51-23 victory over the host Pirates.
Rianda contributed a team-high 19 points, while Warner and Pate each added eight points apiece. Melisah Cortez pulled down 16 rebounds, nine offensively, to go along with a pair of blocks, and Crystal Perreira grabbed three rebounds and hit a buzzer-beater to finish with four points.
Fortino also received plenty of scoring off the bench, with Alexis Sanchez contributing six points and Christina Vasquez providing two points and a pair of assists. Strong defensive performances came from Erin Portuer, Danielle Acosta and Samantha Johnson.
“This game we came out intense and never let up,” Fortino said. “The girls were fired up to win and that’s what we did … This was a great game.”
San Benito will return home today when they host Seaside at 5:30 p.m.
Girls Freshmen Basketball
San Benito 39, Aptos 30
Hollister
The San Benito freshmen girls basketball team continued their undefeated run with a 39-30 victory over Aptos last Thursday.
Nicole Rianda had eight points, Jessica Vest contributed eight points and five steals, and Amanda Byron had six points and pulled down 16 rebounds.
Mari Vallejo had seven boards on the night, while coach Tom Dean received strong defensive efforts from Angie Muntz, Jackie Echaorre and Bella Angeles.
San Benito improves to 9-0 on the season.
While it was a win, Dean said it was not pretty.
“The first half wasn’t good at all. It seemed like the girls were in slow motion,” Dean said. “This was a team we had beaten by 34 points in the first game of the season. We made some adjustments at halftime and had a 13-5 third quarter.”
After the slow start in the first half, Dean said he was pleased with the effort in the second half. San Benito shot 38 percent (18 of 50) from the field and 50 percent (3 of 6) from the line.
The Haybalers will host Seaside today at 4 p.m.
Team 1 2 3 4 F
SB 5 8 13 11 39
APT 10 6 5 9 30
