Baladad leads the way with 16 points and a big defensive effort.
Serra up next
Los Altos Hills – Earlier this season, the Fremont Firebirds handed the San Benito High boys basketball team its first loss of the year, 69-57 in the Independence Tournament held in December. On Saturday, the two teams got together again in the quarterfinals of the Central Coast Section playoffs at Foothills College for a shot at the semis.
The Balers obliterated the memory of that eight-point loss earlier in the year with a 58-35 drubbing of the Firebirds and will play Serra, a team that is ranked in the state, tonight for not only a shot at the CCS title but for a berth in the state tournament as well.
“It was just so refreshing to see the whole team step up and contribute,” said Hollister head coach David Kaplansky. “It’s great, we’re on a six-game winning streak and we’re playing our best basketball of the year right now. I couldn’t be more proud as a coach.”
The Balers knew that they would have to be at their best in order to knock off the Firebirds and they were certainly firing on all cylinders Saturday afternoon. The first half of the game was an all-out defensive war as each team tried to get a sense of the other’s gameplan.
The opening quarter ended with Fremont up 7-5. San Benito’s two field goals came from Darryl Baladad on a drive to the bucket and from Eric Davis on a pull-up jumper late in the first.
The Firebirds opened up a 13-6 lead early in the second quarter before Davis hit an outside jumper, followed by a Fremont turnover that resulted in a score by Hollister’s Ian Whiteley at the other end, reducing Fremont’s advantage to three at 13-10.
Davis erased that deficit with a three-pointer on the Balers’ next possession and Baladad gave the team its first lead of the game with a bucket just before the half to cap off a 9-0 Baler run that spanned more than half the quarter.
So San Benito went into the locker room at the break with a good deal of momentum. The Firebirds had managed to shut down Kyle Sharp, holding the league’s leading scorer to only one point over two quarters, but his teammates had responded with a tremendous defensive effort, along with a flurry of big shots, to claim the lead.
A three-pointer to start the second half put Fremont up 16-15 but Sharp, who returned to court after the break with a more-determined-than-usual look in his eyes, answered with a basket at the other end to take the lead back for Hollister.
That’s just about when the Haybalers began to break the game wide open with a defense that refused to give its opponent anything resembling a good look at the basket and an offense that seemingly couldn’t miss.
Davis scored on a tough drive to the hoop, followed by a stop on the defensive end. Sharp drained a three moments later to put the Balers up 22-17.
Fremont managed to get to within four at 25-21 shortly after thanks to a drive from Allen Castillo but Sharp answered with a monstrous, two-handed jam at the other end.
Late in the quarter, the Haybalers began to put it away as the defense created more and more opportunities for the offense.
Davis stole a Fremont pass and scored with 20 seconds left to put Hollister up 34-25 before the Balers got another turnover. Davis took the ball up court quickly and, with time running out on the third, drove into the lane, drawing the Fremont defense in with him, and kicked it out to an open Vince Bautista, who calmly sank a three to put the Balers up 37-25.
“The fact that the team was able to see what Fremont was trying to do and then to take away their strengths was great to see,” Kaplansky said.
Sharp started the fourth on fire as the Balers began to pull away. The San Benito center scored inside to start the final quarter and then, after another defensive stop for the Balers, drained a fader from the outside to put Hollister up 41-25 and force Fremont into taking a timeout.
The Haybalers got a highlight score after the timeout when Davis hit Baladad with a great lob pass to the side of the rim that Baladad guided into the basket, getting fouled in the process. Baladad converted the three-point play and then scored again on Hollister’s next possession.
A pair of baskets from John Crepeau, coming off nice assists from Baladad and Sharp, got the large Hollister crowd on its feet as the Balers went up 52-30 to put the game out of Fremont’s reach.
“Our intensity level is outstanding right now,” Kaplansky said. “If we can have the same intensity level in the next game, I think…. I know we can compete with Serra.”
Tonight’s game between Serra and San Benito will be played at Foothill College. Tip-off is set for 6pm.
