San Benito could reach height never attainted by previous
squads
No basketball team from San Benito High has ever been in the
championship game of the Central Coast Section tournament let alone
win the title, but history could be made tonight.
On Wednesday after The Pinnacle’s press time the No. 2 seeded
Baler girls varsity squad tipped off against No. 6 seed Piedmont
Hills at Milpitas High School in a CCS semifinal showdown to
determine which team would be vying for the title tonight at 6:30
p.m. at San Jose State University.
San Benito could reach height never attainted by previous squads
No basketball team from San Benito High has ever been in the championship game of the Central Coast Section tournament let alone win the title, but history could be made tonight.
On Wednesday after The Pinnacle’s press time the No. 2 seeded Baler girls varsity squad tipped off against No. 6 seed Piedmont Hills at Milpitas High School in a CCS semifinal showdown to determine which team would be vying for the title tonight at 6:30 p.m. at San Jose State University.
After having back-to-back byes for the first two rounds of action, the Balers picked up a 63-44 win over league rival and the tournament’s No. 7 seed Gilroy in a quarterfinal showdown at Milpitas High.
“The thing I enjoyed the most about that game was that we came out and played a great first quarter,” first-year head coach David Kaplansky said. “It had been a while since we came out strong and I think that was the difference. In a lot of games in league play this year we kind of hung around in the second half and then would have a strong fourth quarter and win. This time, we were consistent throughout the game.”
Against Gilroy the Balers jumped out to a 20-12 lead after the opening quarter and never looked back. Leading the way for the Balers in that contest was forward Bri Romero, who scored 20. Romero was followed by Elena Fata with 14 and Vanessa Farias with 12.
This year the Baler girls have posted an overall record of 21-5 and went 11-1 in route to their Tri County Athletic League title. If the Balers made it into tonight’s final they will face either the No. 4 seeded Vikings of North Salinas or the No. 1 seed Scots of Carlmont High. Although the Balers never squared off against Carlmont this year they did face the Vikings three times – winning once and losing twice. The last loss being a 51-47 defeat in the final game of the regular season.
Despite struggling against the Vikings, Kaplansky wouldn’t mind seeing his squad suit up against them tonight at the NCAA Division I venue.
“I think the preparation gets a lot easier when you play against someone you are familiar with – the message is easier to communicate,” he said. “At the same time it is tough to beat a team that you’ve played three times. They are really improved and I expect them to come out swinging too.”
According to Kaplansky, both Carlmont and North Salinas are very similar in that they each play “extremely physical” are “big and have great sets of guards.”
“North Salinas is playing the best basketball right now and Carlmont is the defending champion,” he said. “Either way, if we make it to the finals and get to play at San Jose State it will definitely be special for our entire program.”
And win or lose in the finals, the Balers would automatically qualify for next week’s Northern California state tournament, which gets under way on Tuesday night – that is, of course, if the Balers were able to first get past Piedmont Hills on Wednesday night…
