Midway through the second period of Tuesday night’s homecoming
girls basketball contest with Salinas, Hollister’s Jennifer
Tremblay took a pass from teammate Gina Caianiello, who was
stranded with the ball inside the key.
Midway through the second period of Tuesday night’s homecoming girls basketball contest with Salinas, Hollister’s Jennifer Tremblay took a pass from teammate Gina Caianiello, who was stranded with the ball inside the key.
Tremblay went straight up with a 12-foot jumper, which went straight down. As Tremblay was backpedaling, she gave a smile, wink and a point in Caianiello’s direction.
The two seniors on Senior Night at Mattson Gym were having fun – finally.
After six tough losses in league – five of which could have gone either way – the Balers finally got to have some fun with a 56-45 victory over the Cowboys (18-5, 4-5). Hollister (16-9, 3-6) will take one of its few wins over a quality opponent as a momentum-buider for Thursday’s road trip to Notre Dame, the last game of the Tri-County Athletic League season.
But before they take on the first place Spirits, let the Balers savor it for now.
“It was wonderful out there tonight,” said beaming senior Naomi Ruiz, who had eight points and six rebounds. “Jennifer Tremblay and Sarah Groman played great. And Jaime Hall played awesome for a sophomore.”
Hall was the real story with a game-high 15 points and 10 boards while playing a little over half the game, if that. The 6-foot Hall, who was just called up from the junior varsity last week, caught the attention of Cowboys coach Alan Takemura.
“She killed us,” said Takemura. “She was a factor.”
“Hall gave us a big presence,” said Balers coach Richard Silva. “She can come off the bench and give us five extra fouls. We’re big when I put her in there with Sarah and Naomi. That’s a big frontline.”
Hall had four field goals and an adventurous experience at the free throw line. She went 7-for-12 with a high-arcing soft touch. Two of her attempts didn’t count because of lane violations – one for not shooting the free throw within 10 seconds, a rarity.
Still, the upside on Hall bodes well for the future of the Baler girls hoop program.
“It’s exciting being on the varsity,” said Hall. “This is great experience for me for next year.”
The Balers, for all intents and purposes, won this game in the first period when they outscored the Cowboys 15-3. The Cowboys stayed in a fairly passive zone and it cost them.
Ruiz hit a running banker to start the Balers’ scoring. Trisha Lee hit a long deuce and Caianiello followed that with the only three-pointer of the game.
Caianiello stole the ball and scored for 13-2. Erika Rodriguez dished to Hall for a bucket right before the buzzer sounded and the Balers, who had limited the Cowboys to one shot nearly every time down, were off to the coveted good start they’ve been looking for.
It also helped that Cowboys star Rebekah Fales never got untracked from the perimeter. Fales had 13 points and a fair amount of steals, but couldn’t string buckets together.
“It was an off-night for Fales,” said Takemura. “We fell behind early and she started pressing, trying to do too much.”
The Balers, who have had their share of bad breaks, will take any help they can get.
“I told my players that this is a tough league,” said Silva. “After we played so badly at North Salinas, I challenged them to come out and play good basketball in front of their parents on homecoming.”
Baler bits: Besides Caianiello, Tremblay and Ruiz, two other Balers played their last home game in front of the home crowd – Groman and Desina Gonzalez. Groman had 11 points and six rebounds while Gonzalez was 2-for-4 from the free throw line for two points. – Caianiello almost pulled off a miracle shot to end the third quarter when she heaved a left hook shot from 40-feet out. The ball went off the backboard and nearly went in. – Hollister was 15-28 from the free throw line, 54 percent. – The Balers shot well from the field, 44 percent (20-45). – Caianiello had five assists. – Three Cowboys fouled out – Fales, Stefanie Williams and Melissa Harney.
JV result: Hollister 37, Salinas 33. Tom Dean, who has been a coach in the Baler program for the past five seasons, announced he won’t be coming back. Dean has a chance to go out perfect against T-CAL competition when the Balers visit Notre Dame on Thursday. The Spirits’ lone loss was to Hollister (24-2). Ashley Patton and Jamie Flores each had seven points for the Balers. Cortney Almaguer had five points. Jennifer Anaya hit a big three-pointer from about 42-feet right before the first half buzzer sounded.
Frosh result: Hollister 39, Salinas 23. The Balers (16-5) were pace by Amanda Boyd’s nine points and Ari Romero’s seven points. Three players had six points each – Jamie Huston, Gloria Brigantino and Christine Goytia.
Salinas 3 15 11 16 – 45
Hollister 15 10 12 19 – 56
S – Williams 1 0-0 2, Ray 5 0-1 10, Fales 5 3-3 13, Cronin 4 0-0 8, Davi 1 3-6 5, Harney 1 0-1 2, Flannigan 2 1-2 5. Totals 19 7-13 45.
H – Caianiello 5 1-4 12, Groman 5 1-2 11, Ruiz 3 2-4 8, Lee 2 0-0 4, Tremblay 1 2-2 4, Gonzalez 0 2-4 2, Hall 4 7-12 15, Andrewson 0 0-2 0. Totals 20 15-28 56.
3-point goals: Caianiello (H).
