Hawks will play first postseason game at Saint Lawrence
San Juan Bautista
The Anzar girls basketball team will open the Central Coast Section Division V tournament this week against Saint Lawrence Academy of Santa Clara, a game Hawks coach Aaron Netzel is certainly excited about.
Earlier in the season, Anzar, which finished 13-7 overall and 11-1 in the Coastal Athletic League, lost to Saint Lawrence 51-29 on Dec. 14.
“We do a lot of things differently now,” Netzel said. “I like the matchup, personally.”
The Hawks earned the No. 9 seed in the Division V tournament, while Saint Lawrence (13-9) was rewarded with the No. 8 seed. The winner of Thursday’s contest will advance to play against No. 1 Eastside College Prep (26-1).
But while the Hawks fell to Saint Lawrence earlier this year, it was only the sixth game of the season and Anzar already had five losses.
With a winning record and a league championship now firmly under their belt, it’d be difficult to say that Anzar is not a different team today.
For one, the Hawks were without the services of Nicole Mello in that game, who is the team’s leading rebounder and a first-team CAL selection. Additionally, CAL MVP Alyssa Rodriguez had an off night against Saint Lawrence with just 10 points.
“I like the matchup,” Netzel said. “It should be, at the very least, a competitive game.”
While Rodriguez, the league’s leading scorer with an average of 23.63 points per game, garnered the CAL’s top award and a spot on the first team with teammate Mello, Liliana Resendez and Carly Johnson each earned second team selections. Kristina Pavese was selected honorable mention for the year-end awards.
The Hawks will play at Saint Lawrence on Thursday at 7 p.m.
