The Hollister High girls basketball team can count the ways to
lose hearbreaking basketball games.
The Hollister High girls basketball team can count the ways to lose hearbreaking basketball games.
Add another one to the list as the Balers fell 56-53 to host Gilroy in overtime Tuesday night.
Hollister (15-8, 2-5 Tri-County Athletic League ) has lost five league games by a total of 19 points, a 3.8 average.
Hollister led 32-25 at the half, but the Mustangs turned the table in the second half, outscoring the Balers 27-20 in the second half. Hollister could manage only one point in the four-minute overtime.
Power forward Naomi Ruiz did her part with a career-high 23 points to go with 10 rebounds. Ruiz was 8-for-14 from the floor and 7-of-9 from the free throw line. As a team, the Balers went 17-25 from the line, 68 per cent.
Guards Trisha Lee and Gina Caianiello had 11 and 10 points, respectively. Caianiello had four assists to go with three steals.
The Mustangs (14-9, 4-3) were buoyed by 20 points from Laura Hennessee and 18 points from Sarah Hoeft. Hennessee and Hoeft combined to wreck the Balers when the two teams met on Jan. 25 as Hennessee totaled 18 points and Hoeft 16 in a 52-50 Mustangs win that afternoon.
The Balers are at North Salinas on Thursday.
In other T-CAL action, Notre Dame stayed perfect at 7-0 with a 46-39 defeat of Salinas.
JV score: Balers 44, Gilroy 26. The Balers are now 22-2 and 7-0 vs. T-CAL opponents, thanks to an emotional speech by coach Tom Dean after the Balers led just 20-16 at the half.
“We did not have a good practice Monday and we played the same way in the first half,” said Dean. “We started playing Baler ball in the second half.”
Center Jaime Hall had 14 points and eight boards for the Balers. Cortney Almaguer had a team-high 10 rebounds and six points. Jaime Flores also had six points to go with a team-high nine steals.
