Notre Dame’s Ross scores 11 of her 20 points in the first
quarter as the Spirits defeat San Benito and remain undefeated in
TCAL play at 9-0
Salinas – The San Benito High girls basketball team had won five out of its last seven games going into Tuesday night’s contest against a Notre Dame team that had yet to lose a game in league play.
The Balers gave a good effort against the TCAL’s top team but turnovers and an off night of shooting for San Benito resulted in a 44-33 win for the Spirits.
“I told the girls before the game that they can’t come out slow against this team,” said Hollister head coach Tom Dean. “You’ve got to come out hot if you’re going to have a shot.”
Notre Dame’s Jessica Ross set the tempo for the Spirits early on with her shooting touch and dribbling ability. The Spirits’ guard helped put her team up 4-2 with a good pass into the lane before scoring from the outside on Notre Dame’s next possession to push the lead to 6-2.
San Benito’s Trisha Lee answered with an outside shot of her own but a Spirits score, coupled with a Hollister turnover that resulted in two more points for Ross, got the Notre Dame lead out to 10-4.
Hollister took a timeout after the score from Ross, which she made possible with a crafty crossover move at 15-feet out, and Lee drained a long shot when play resumed. Notre Dame was called for traveling on its next possession and Jamie Hall made the most of the opportunity for Hollister with a score under the basket following an offensive board, cutting the home team’s lead to 10-8.
That was as close as the Balers would get to the lead for the rest of the game.
Ross scored seven points in less than three minutes to close out the game’s opening quarter, including a deep two-pointer just before the buzzer to put the Spirits up 17-8.
Hollister’s defense tightened up considerably in the second as the Balers held the Spirits to just three points in the eight-minute frame. Both Johni Kieswetter and Dani Andrewson gave solid efforts against Ross on defense, holding the Notre Dame guard to just two points on seven shot attempts.
But the San Benito offense couldn’t quite keep pace with its defensive effort and the Balers managed only six points in that second quarter, leaving the halftime gap a bit wider than they would have liked to at 20-14.
For the first few minutes of the third, it looked like San Benito was on its way to overtaking the Spirits for the lead. Kieswetter opened the quarter with a bucket to cut the Notre Dame lead to four points. Briana Mendalla answered for the Spirits but Hollister’s Lee responded on the other end by beating Ross off the dribble from the top of the key and driving into the lane for two.
Ross, who scored only 10 points after her outburst of offensive productivity in the opening quarter, hit for five in the third and did a good job of getting her teammates open looks with good passing. And, by the end of the third, Notre Dame was up nine at 33-24.
“We kind of lost Ross in the first quarter,” said Dean of his team’s effort against Notre Dame’s big threat. “But then we picked it up for the rest of the game. We made her work really hard. Kieswetter and Andrewson did a very good job on her after the first.”
The Balers opened up the fourth with four unanswered points coming off baskets from Hall and Andrewson but Ross put her team back on top by seven with a score underneath. Ross was fouled on the play but missed the free throw which was rebounded by Randy Goodenough, who was left all alone under the bucket for an easy put back that put Notre Dame up 37-28 and essentially put the game out of reach for the Balers.
Note: The San Benito High junior varsity team defeated the Spirits 32-26 on Tuesday. Bri Romero scored 12 to lead the Balers while teammate Elena Fata added eight in the Hollister win. The JV girls are now 5-3 in league and 20-6 overall.
