Hall scores 17, Lee adds 16 in Hollister win
Hollister – It’s on to the second round of the Central Coast Section playoffs for the San Benito High girls basketball team.
The Haybalers defeated Fremont 52-41 thanks to a solid team effort, led by Jaime Hall’s 17 points and Trisha Lee’s 16, and will face either Piedmont Hills or Santa Teresa on Saturday in the next round.
“I was very impressed with the intensity that the girls played with tonight,” said Hollister head coach Tom Dean. “They had one little lapse late in the game but they pulled it together and got the win.”
The Balers got off to a quick start in this one, outscoring the Firebirds 18-9 in the game’s opening quarter. Jaime Hall let the Fremont offense know right away that there weren’t going to be any easy buckets in the paint on her watch as she rejected the first shot attempt by the Firebirds.
Hall was getting it done early on offense as well, putting the Balers up 4-3 with a bucket underneath off a nice assist from Jaime Flores.
After Hall’s first bucket, it was Lee who began to stretch the Hollister lead, first by forcing a Fremont turnover with tough defense and scoring at the other end, and then by hitting a three on the Balers’ next trip down the court to put the home team up 9-5.
Lee stole a Fremont inbounds pass moments later and again, the Balers made the Firebirds pay for the mistake, this time with good ball movement along the parameter that ended with a Johni Kieswetter three, her first shot attempt of the game.
Hall closed out the first quarter with a tough shot to give the Balers the 18-9 edge.
The Balers slowed down considerably in the second as they scored only seven points. But Hollister’s defense, highlighted by another big block from Hall, held Fremont to only eight points, leaving the score at 25-17 going into halftime.
“We came out hot in the first quarter,” Dean said. “But then we kind of got into our lull. If we end up playing Santa Teresa in the next round, we can’t to that, they’re too disciplined a team.”
The Firebirds cut the Hollister lead to 10 at 37-27 heading into the fourth. And they nearly came all the way back to take control of the game, thanks to the shooting of Carol Hoang, who led all scorers with 24 points. Hoang nailed a three right off the bat to cut the lead to seven but rolled her ankle as she landed following the shot. Hoang was back on the floor less than thirty seconds later though and she hit another three the first time she touched the ball, cutting the lead to four.
With a little over five minutes to play and the game’s momentum clearly shifting in Fremont’s favor, Hollister was in desperate need of a score.
So they went to Hall, and the Hollister center delivered.
Hall scored three unanswered points for the Balers to bring the lead to seven at 40-33.
Hoang answered with her fifth three-pointer of the night but Flores answered with a pair of clutch free throws. Fremont turned the ball over on its next possession, which led to a bucket from the outside from Osborne, effectively putting the game away at 44-36.
“We’ve got to keep our intensity and pressure up in the next game, it’s going to get a lot tougher” Dean said. “But I’m proud of the girls. They came out and took back control of the game.”
