UPDATED: All four Hollister basketball and soccer teams reach playoffs

All four of Hollister’s primary winter sports teams qualified for the Central Coast Section playoffs. And the wrestling teams did well too, with the boys winning the Pacific Coast Athletic League title over Palma and others. The girls PCAL title went to Monterey, with Hollister a bit behind. 

The highlight on that side was a CCS title for Baler mat star Golda Demby, who finished fifth last year at the CIF State meet and competes there again this coming weekend.

In basketball, the Baler boys finished third in the Pacific Coast Athletic League, Mission Division with a 9-5 league mark, 13-10 overall. Highlights included sweeping Rancho San Juan 57-40 on the road and 56-55 at home, keeping the Balers ahead of the Trailblazers in the battle for third place. 

In the CCS DI playoffs, Hollister lost a hard-fought overtime game at Independence, 57-55. 

It was another fine season for the program, led in 2024-25 by starting seniors Brody Cotter, Chandler Crutcher, Savion Loza and Devin Townsend.

The Hollister girls hoopsters rolled to another solid season. They finished third in the PCAL Gabilan Division with an 8-4 mark, with the biggest wins coming over Alisal 45-30, Salinas 37-34 in the Cowboys’ corral, and Watsonville 68-64 in overtime. 

In their CCS Division IV opener, the Balers routed Leigh 45-27 at home on Feb. 22. Madelyn Davis led the scoring parade with 17 points and Miranda Martinez chipped in 10, with Claire Gho adding eight points. 

The sixth-seeded Balers next travelled to third-seeded Menlo-Atherton on Feb. 25 for a quarterfinal battle. They led 25-24 at half but fell 53-37. Emery Sparling scored nine points and Jadah Gonzalez and Gho each tallied eight points. 

Hollister ended the season with a 15-10 record.

The boys soccer team finished the regular season strongly, closing in second place behind Everett Alvarez. Other than two competitive losses to the Eagles, the Balers went 5-0-1 down the stretch to fend off Greenfield, Monterey and Alisal in the standings. In the second half of the league round robin, Hollister defeated that trio by scores of 2-0 over the Bruins, 3-1 against the ‘Dores and 4-1 versus the Trojans.

The Balers then launched their playoff run as a fifth seed in Division II with a road upset of fourth-seeded Del Mar 2-0. The Dons had been 14-1-5 and on an 8-0-3 streak but Hollister scored two first-half goals and shut down Del Mar the rest of the way. Next up is a road match at Hillsdale, the 17-1-2 top seed. That will take place at 6pm Feb. 26. 

The Baler boys are looking to make a playoff run similar to last year’s squad, which pulled upsets of Westmont, Serra and Los Gatos on the way to the school’s first-ever boys soccer CCS Division title.

“I was proud of our team because it has never been done in Baler soccer history,” said Hollister’s Adrian Valdez, after last season. “We had many ups and downs throughout the season, but toward the end, we played great and were able to come together.”

That CCS championship trophy matched the school’s first girls soccer team title from 2023, when that crew beat Thomas More, Everett Alvarez and Soledad to win the CCS Division IV title.

In the current season, the girls soccer team fought off Rancho San Juan, Everett Alvarez and Watsonville to finish third in the PCAL Gabilan Division behind powerhouses Salinas and Soledad. The Balers went 4-1-1 against their closest pursuers to beat them out. Additionally, Hollister gave the two powers some of their biggest battles.

In the Division IV playoffs, the Balers drew a seven seed and travelled Feb. 22 up to second-seeded Christopher. In a back-and-forth battle, the teams finished regulation play tied 2-2. Baler goals came from Sydney Stacy and Ana Kaplansky with an assist going to Briella Rose Perham. 

In addition to Stacy and Kaplansky, Perham and Mia Briano both had outstanding games, as did Kylie Varnes, Samantha Alvarado-Castillo, Alyssa Tiopan and several other Balers as they fought for an upset.

Hollister came within inches of a victory, twice ringing shots off the crossbar, including a Varnes rocket from about 20 yards out in the final two minutes of regulation time. Two 10-minute overtimes commenced and the Cougars scored early to take a 3-2 lead. The Balers fought to level the score late on a loose ball in the box. However, Briano, Stacy and Varnes were stymied up close by Christopher goalkeeper Adalyn Mosher.

A rough loss but the Balers excelled against a big favorite on the road. A solid league record stamped 2024-25 as their fourth straight strong campaign.