The ‘Balers and Acorns swap lead throughout the night. Live Oak
strikes last with 12-0 run to clinch win.
Hollister – The San Benito boys basketball team picked the wrong time to fall flat. After breaking open a back-and-forth game by taking a seven-point lead with five minutes the remaining, the ‘Balers suddenly couldn’t execute at either end of the floor and, as a result, fell to Live Oak 59-53 last night.
“The difference was just all of a sudden, we were worried about losing the game,” said San Benito head coach John Becerra. “‘I don’t want to make a bad pass. I don’t want to take a bad shot.’ We just became a little tentative.”
The ‘Balers (7-10) built up a 48-41 lead after two free throws by Todd Janisch, but then promptly gave up a 12-0 run to the Acorns. Eight consecutive points by Live Oak swingman Micah Jones, including two three-pointers, coupled with San Benito’s inability to get good looks at the basket in the face of the Acorns’ pressing defense turned the game in the visitors’ favor.
The ‘Balers pulled within 54-53 when sophomore Brian Haggett found Janisch with a cross-court pass for a catch-and-shoot three-pointer with 53.2 seconds remaining, but Live Oak hit 5-of-6 free throws in the waning seconds to secure the victory.
“We just couldn’t make the right passes,” said San Benito center Dean Wilkins. “Bad passes in the fourth quarter … and they were playing intense.”
The late fade ruined all the hard work the ‘Balers exerted to enter the fourth quarter leading 44-38. In a game that featured 12 lead changes and seven ties, San Benito turned offensive rebounds on three consecutive possessions late in the third quarter into six points and all of the momentum heading into the final period.
“I was thinking about practice [today],” said Live Oak head coach Brett Paolucci after watching San Benito’s Haggett, Daryl Baladad and Janisch convert their shots after hitting the offensive glass. “I was thinking about all of the boxing out and rebounding drills we were going to do.”
Based on the way the game began, the coaches must have wanted to drag their players in for a mid-game defensive tutorial. The ‘Balers jumped out to a 11-6 lead when forward Kevin Burley found Wilkins for a lay-up on an inbounds play. But the Acorns (10-10, 2-1 TCAL) came right back, using three consecutive three pointers to go up 15-13. By the time the dust settled, San Benito grabbed a 20-17 lead on Haggett’s second three-pointer of the quarter.
What was confounding to San Benito coaches and players was why the ‘Balers couldn’t master Live Oak’s attacking defense with the game on the line when they were able to effortlessly expose it in the game’s early stages.
“In the first half, we punished them when they went on that press,” said Becerra, “but in the end, we kind of gave it to them.”
Baladad led San Benito with 11 points, while Haggett scored 10 and grabbed seven rebounds. Janisch scored nine points off the bench, and Wilkins finished with six points and a team-high eight rebounds.
Live Oak’s Jones led all scorers with 17 points, including four three-pointers, while Dustin Bynum scored 15 points and shot 9-of-11 from the free throw line.
After falling to 1-2 in league, the ‘Balers learned an important lesson about finishing games.
“We’ve just got to keep it going all the way,” said Wilkins. “We need to have the same mentality for all four quarters.”
