Add poise to the mounting qualities of the Hollister High boys
basketball team. And add another preseason tournament
championship.
SALINAS – Add poise to the mounting qualities of the Hollister High boys basketball team.
And add another preseason tournament championship.
The Balers outlasted a pesky Alisal club 53-50 on Saturday to capture the underrated Bob Steinbach Classic Boys Basketball Tournament at North Salinas. It was the second tournament title for the Balers (12-2), who won the Fukushima Independence Tournament on Dec. 13.
It was also the second tourney MVP award for Baler sophomore Kyle Sharp, who has been tabbed all-tournament in all four tournaments the Balers have entered, a very nice ratio. Sharp actually won his MVP kudos on Friday night when he had a game-high 28 points in the Balers’ thrilling 85-76 victory over Salinas. Facing a box-and-one defense in the game against Alisal, Sharp was limited to 15 points, but had 13 in the second half after the Balers made some adjustments.
The top Baler scorer in the championship game was center Anthony Butler, who had 21 points.
“Butler played great,” said Baler head coach David Kaplansky. “We put Kyle on the other side and isolated Anthony. They didn’t have anyone to match up with him.”
Butler, who had 18 points in the win over the Cowboys, made the all-tournament team. Kaplansky also got bonus play from guard Broc Sondgroth. Sondgroth, who added eight points on Saturday, went off for a career-high 23 points against Salinas, nailing five three-pointers along the way.
“Broc has come so far from not playing much at all last year to playing crunch-time minutes for us this year,” said Kaplansky.
“That was the biggest game I ever played in,” said Sondgroth, whose brother Tommy plays for Gavilan College. “That gave me confidence and it gave us confidence.”
The game against the Cowboys, ranked 12th in the Central Coast Section, was worth the price of admission. Salinas came out blazing, pressing the Balers into turnover after turnover. Before Hollister could blink an eye, the Cowboys were up 10-0. The Cowboys’ senior backcourt of Drew Sanchez and Casey Neligh were something to watch as they combined for 17 of the Cowboys’ 26 points in the first period.
The second period found the Balers settling down and working their pattern. The ball was put into Sharp’s and Butler’s hands and the pair responded by scoring all 17 of the Balers’ points in the period.
Neligh had the hot hand to start the third period, knocking down three of his four treys. Chris Choate added a three-pointer, his only hoop of the night, and Salinas was up 52-42. Sondgroth, who had 10 points in the first period, tossed in two more three-pointers and a deuce as the Balers finally warmed up.
Eric Davis had a three from top of the key, then Kevin Zanella scored inside on a follow and the Balers were down just 57-56. As the seconds wound down towards the end of the period, Jeff Fajardo buried a three as the buzzer sounded.
That was the first of many clutch shots from either side. The pace heated up, if that was possible.
The Balers extended their lead to 69-62 on a feed from Sondgroth to Butler. But Sanchez was ruled to be fouled outside the arc and was awarded three free throws at the five-minute mark. He sunk all three, but the Cowboys were actually given another point, making the score 69-66. Just a few seconds later, Kaplansky, who questioned the Cowboys’ side of the ledger, was assessed his first technical foul of the season.
“I had been arguing some calls and I guess he (the referee) was tired of it,” said Kaplansky.
Sanchez, who had 27 points, missed the first free throw but made the second. Moments later, up 77-76, Butler dished to Sharp, who hit a clutch 15-footer on the baseline to put the Balers up by three with 38 seconds left. Davis chipped in two clutch free throws and the Balers held on.
Sharp, who had 11 points in the decisive fourth quarter, threw the ball to the rafters as the Balers celebrated their biggest win of the year. It was undoubtedly the biggest win in Kaplansky’s two-year stint as head mentor at Hollister High.
“The boys showed they could play with adversity,” said Kaplansky. “To get down 10-0 against a senior Salinas team, that showed me something.”
“Hollister took control of the game,” said Salinas coach Joe Chappell. “They did a good job on the boards.”
The Balers host an athletic Monterey team on Friday at 7 p.m. then travel to James Lick on Saturday at 3 p.m. The non-league portion of the Balers’ schedule ends on Jan. 10 at home vs. Seaside.
Baler bits: The Balers played without Danny Brooks, who was off for personal reasons. -The Cowboys were without starter Thomas Incaviglia. Incaviglia was declared out of the tournament, along with a player from Monterey, after both received two technicals in the fiery first-round game between the Cowboys and Toreadores on Thursday. – Hollister meets the Cowboys twice in Tri-County Athletic League play – in Hollister on Jan. 30 and in Salinas on Feb. 19.
