For 32 minutes Friday night, Seaside’s quickness edge went
even-Steven with Hollister High’s height advantage.
For 32 minutes Friday night, Seaside’s quickness edge went even-Steven with Hollister High’s height advantage.
The visiting Spartans hit a huge 3-point basket with a minute left, then held on for a scintillating 63-60 win over the Haybalers in front of a hefty and noisy throng at Mattson Gym.
One can expect the Balers (14-3), ranked fifth in the Central Coast Section, to go down a notch or two when the new rankings come out in the middle of this week. And the unranked Spartans (8-5), who were bombed by Mitty and Palma in their previous two games, should even be included in the top 15.
They’re that good.
“This is the way we play basketball,” said Spartans coach Kelvin Garnett. “We played good defense tonight, not like we did the last two games. This was a big win.”
“It was a great high-school basketball game,” said Baler head coach David Kaplansky. “Seaside is a great team. Either team could have won.”
The game could be analyzed in a number of ways. However, it’s safe to say the biggest basket of the night was recorded by the Spartans’ Rashad Gibson, who let fly with an ice-in-the-veins 3-pointer from about 22 feet with a minute left in the game and the score tied 58-58. Gibson found nothing but net, which put the pressure right back on the Balers.
With the Balers in the double bonus, Danny Brooks made the second of two free throws with 57 seconds left, then Jeff Fajardo made the front end of two charity tosses with 31 seconds to go and the Balers were down by just one.
Gibson was fouled with 21 seconds remaining. He missed his first try, but the Balers couldn’t gather in the rebound, which was snagged by the Spartans Laurence Walker, who was quickly fouled. Walker missed his free throw attempt and the Balers had one last gasp to win it.
With no timeouts for the Balers, the ball was pushed ahead. Guard Eric Davis looked inside to Baler big men Kyle Sharp and Anthony Butler, who were posting inside about two yards from each other. The Spartans Jermaine Johnson quick-handed Davis’ pass away, picked up the loose ball on the ground and dished ahead for a meaningless Spartans layin as the buzzer sounded as the chants of “Seaside! Seaside!” arose from the Spartans’ fandom.
“We knew it was going to be a close game coming here,” said Johnson. “We got off to a fast start and kept it going from there.”
The Spartans pressure tactics forced numerous Baler turnovers and led to an early run, which had an irate Kaplansky calling timeout with 2:33 left in the first. The Spartans led 18-12 after the initial eight minutes.
“The boys had trouble adjusting to the environment,” said Kaplansky.
“We were a little jittery with the big crowd there,” said Sharp. “We had some breakdowns against their press, but we settled down after that.”
Sharp, for one, settled down. After a two-point first period, the 6-foot-6 forward had eight points in the second, eight more in the third and 12 in the fourth for a total of 30 points, half of the Balers’ total. It is the second time this season the high-scoring sophomore has netted 30 points.
“No. 40 killed us,” said Garnett, talking of Sharp. “He’s a heck of a player. I guess I’ll have to worry about him for two more years now that I know he’s just a sophomore.”
The Balers reasserted themselves in the second quarter, when they outscored the Spartans 21-10. Brooks had six of his nine points in the second frame and excited the Baler crowd with a ‘Why not?’ pull-up jumper from 15-feet out with 1:20 left in the half as Garnett burned a timeout. Then the ball went inside to Sharp for a basket and the Balers had their biggest lead of the game at 33-25.
That man Gibson, however, hit a pressure three from the top of the key right before the halftime buzzer sounded, which turned out to a basket of more magnitude then it was thought of at the time.
Despite the loss, the wire-test should put the Balers in good stead for the rugged Tri-County Athletic League, which begins next Saturday at home vs. Live Oak.
Baler bits: Kaplansky had to take his final time out with 2:26 left in the game when the Baler back court was on the verge of getting a 10-second violation called against them. Kaplansky’s TO came with a mini-second to spare. – The Balers shot 16-27 from the line, 59 percent. The Spartans were 6-of-12. – For the second Friday game in a row, the shot clock was not functioning. – An annoying buzz emanated from somewhere for the entire first and second halves, but went away during the halftime break for some reason. – According to freshman basketball coach John Becerra, George “Bud” Presley, a defensive guru while coaching at Menlo College, used to coach football and basketball at Hollister High in the ’50’s. Presley, who has written books on the art of man-to-man defense, died last week.
JV result: Hollister 52, Seaside 46. The Balers (8-6) saw a 12-point lead fritter completely away before Juan Tamayo knocked down back-to-back three-pointers to put the Balers up 41-35. Peter Prak’s drive and a Colin Parker layin gave the Balers a 49-42 lead. Tamayo ended up with 14 points. Six-three Henry Taylor added 10 points for the Balers, as did Emio Visperios.
Frosh result: Seaside 46, Hollister 42, in overtime. The Balers, who won two of three tournaments, are now 12-2. Becerra praised Karson Klauer for all-around hustle. “He had a lot of steals,” said Becerra of Klauer. “We have a lot of good kids on the team.”
Seaside 18 10 12 23 – 63
Hollister 12 21 11 16 – 60
S – Evans 2 0-0 5, Gibson 6 2-4 16, Johnson 5 2-4 12, Love 5 0-0 10, Walker 7 2-3 16, Kirkland 1 0-2 2, Lewis 1 0-0 2. Totals 27 6-12 63.
H – Sharp 12 6-8 30, Butler 3 2-5 8, Brooks 4 1-3 9, Sondgroth 2 4-5 8, Sims 0 2-4 2, Fajardo 0 1-2 1, Rubio 1 0-0 2. Totals 22 16-27 60.
3-point goals: Evans, Gibson 2 (S).
