When Vanessa Casalegno stole the ball, it pretty much summed up
the whole night. Trailing by nine with under two minutes to play,
Seaside rolled the ball out toward midcourt on the inbound in order
to prevent the clock from starting.
HOLLISTER
When Vanessa Casalegno stole the ball, it pretty much summed up the whole night.
Trailing by nine with under two minutes to play, Seaside rolled the ball out toward midcourt on the inbound in order to prevent the clock from starting.
But Casalegno of San Benito, who had three points on the night, decided to not wait for Seaside’s Chastity Swartzel to retrieve the ball, and instead dove to the floor to pick it up herself.
Casalegno drew the jump ball, the Haybalers earned the possession, and just seconds later Elena Fata nailed a jump shot to put San Benito up 57-46.
Seaside may have taken the first quarter, but the Lady ‘Balers simply wanted it that much more, and they went to defeat Seaside 61-50 at Mattson Gym Tuesday night.
“That tells you about these girls,” coach David Kaplansky said. “Even with a team that’s trying to stall the clock, the girls are not allowing freebies.”
Fata had a team-high 16 points while Vanessa Farias had 13 and Lauren Ademek had 10 points for San Benito, who improved to 6-2 on the year.
Seaside, who smoked the Lady ‘Balers last season 70-30 and are the defending champions of the Monterey Bay Athletic League, fall to 5-3 with the loss.
Casalegno’s forced turnover was just one of 27 caused by San Benito, who outscored Seaside in every quarter except the first.
In the first quarter, Seaside broke through San Benito’s full-court trap and knocked down three 3-pointers to jump out to a quick 11-5 lead.
“We were running our Black defense (full-court trap) and they were beating us down and hitting three’s,” Fata said. “So we switched to man (defense) and that took care of that.”
Kaplansky said the only difference from the first quarter to the rest of the game was that San Benito struggled to hit their jumpers in the opening quarter. The Lady ‘Balers, who were outscored 19-12 in the first, shot 4 of 17 from the field in the first seven minutes.
“We couldn’t make anything at the beginning,” Kaplansky said. “But our defensive effort in the second quarter, holding them to four points, that was the difference of the game.”
The Lady ‘Balers outscored Seaside 18-4 in the second quarter, and entered halftime with a 30-23 lead. Said Kaplansky, “They were having a hard time getting the ball up the court.”
San Benito’s tenacity earned them plenty of turnovers and plenty of free-throw attempts, as they shot 16 of 21 from the line, while Fata alone shot 7 of 8 and Victoria Aguilera was a perfect 4 of 4.
San Benito will host Oak Grove tonight at 7 p.m. The last time San Benito played back to back games was during the Bill Getris Classic in Salinas, when the Lady ‘Balers lost to Northgate and Santa Teresa.
At that time, Kaplansky noted the importance of having a rested team, whereas playing two games in as many days usually leaves tired legs.
“We’ve got to be able to deal with it,” Kaplansky said Tuesday. “We can’t make that an excuse.”
Fata said the Santa Teresa game, which was the second game at the Bill Getris Classic for San Benito, was the worst game of the season for the Lady ‘Balers.
“We’re going to use that,” Fata said, “to not let it happen again.”
Team 1 2 3 4 F
SB 12 18 13 18 61
SEA 19 4 12 15 50
SB (61) – Aguilera 0-2 4-4 4, Ademek 3-11 4-6 10, Casalegno 1-3 0-1 3, Farias 6-16 0-0 13, Fata 4-8 7-8 16, Halstead 3-13 0-0 6, Romero 2-5 1-2 5, Russell 2-2 0-0 4.
Three-point goals – Casalegno 1, Farias 1, Fata 1.
JV Note: The San Benito junior varsity team lost in overtime Tuesday to Seaside.
Melisah Cortez had a team-high 13 points and Kim Warner had 10 points for San Benito. Crystal Perreira added seven points.
The balers are playing better every game,” coach Karen Fortino said. “My goal over the next two games is to get the bench rotated in quicker.”
San Benito will play tonight at 5:30 p.m. against Oak Grove at Mattson Gym.
“You ain’t seen nothing yet,” Fortino said. “The ride is about to begin ‘Baler ball at its best.”
Frosh Note: The San Benito freshmen team improved to 10-0 on the year with a 42-15 win over Seaside Tuesday in Hollister.
Mari Vallejo was 7 of 10 from the field and had 18 points, Nicole Rianda had six, Michelle Fortino provided five with eight boards, and Bella Angeles and Chris Larezana had seven and five rebounds, respectively.
“We went up 14-4 early using our full court press. From then on it was in our control,” coach Tom Dean said. “The girls were passing very well and moving the ball on the fast break. We slowed the pace after the half as the score was 30-7.”
San Benito will play tonight against Oak Grove at Mattson Gym.
Team 1 2 3 4 F
SB 20 10 9 3 42
SEA 4 3 3 3 15
