Castroville – As expected, the San Benito boys basketball team had its hands full against Serra in the first round of the North Monterey County Tournament.
The Padres, the defending Northern California Division I champions, jumped to a 12-2 lead before the Haybalers knew what hit them. But San Benito proved up to the challenge, slowly chipping away at Serra’s lead to put the contest up for grabs going into the fourth quarter.
Ultimately, the Padres prevailed 67-43, a score that would insinuate a laugher, but this game was hardly that. Despite the apparently lopsided outcome, San Benito players spoke of a positive theme upon exiting the locker room.
“I think it means that we can compete with pretty much any team as long as we come out and execute our offense and play tough defense–no easy baskets,” said ‘Balers forward Brian Haggett, who scored a team-high 13 points.
“That we can play with anyone,” said San Benito senior Daryl Baladad, when asked what the ‘Balers learned about themselves in the contest.
Those thoughts will be music to the ears of San Benito head coach John Becerra, who hoped hanging with Serra, ranked No. 1 in the Central Coast Section by maxpreps.com, for much of the game would instill a sense of confidence in his team.
“Once they realized [the Padres] are just like other kids that we’ve played before, they adjusted and they played good basketball,” said Becerra. “I hope they learned that they can play with anybody in the state. With anyone.”
The Padres, the team which eliminated San Benito in last season’s CCS semifinals, took control from the opening tip and dominated the ‘Balers at both ends of the court in the first quarter. Unveiling a full-court trap to hound San Benito dribblers, Serra received eight consecutive points by Mario Favetti to race to an 18-5 lead. San Benito played right into the Padres’ hands, committing turnovers on five straight possessions.
“They broke down our defense and they got a couple of easy lay-ups,” said Haggett, whose scored five of the ‘Balers’ seven first-quarter points. “We just weren’t boxing out, they got rebounds and turnovers for lay-ups.”
San Benito, playing without the services of an ill Vince Bautista, recovered in the second quarter by turning up its defensive pressure and changing the tempo of the game, making it a physical affair.
‘Baler forward Kevin Medeiros showcased his team’s newfound energy, stealing a pass on a Padres’ inbounds play and forcefully shedding a Serra defender to hit a jump shot that pulled San Benito within 30-20 as the halftime buzzer sounded.
“I thought we started a little slow,” said Becerra, “maybe a little timid in the first quarter or so, but then we picked it up. Finally, they realized, just go out and play basketball, and that’s what they did.”
The ‘Balers’ momentum rolled over into the start of the third quarter, when Haggett found guard Marty Bueno open on the left wing. Bueno drilled a three-pointer while being fouled and then hit the resulting free throw to pull San Benito within 30-24.
After two free throws by Serra’s Phoenix O’Rourke, the Haggett-Bueno connection resulted in another Bueno three-pointer and a five-point ‘Balers’ deficit with 5:40 left in the third quarter.
“I was just thinking we can play with anybody, that we can maybe come back and win the game,” said Bueno, a sophomore who finished with eight points.
San Benito (4-7) closed to 41-35 on a Haggett turnaround jumper with just seconds left in the quarter, but Serra got a buzzer-beating lay-up from Brian Hammell that proved to be the launching pad for another Padres’ run.
Serra’s 15-0 spurt in the fourth quarter turned what had been a tight, physical contest into a final score worthy of a blowout.
Padres head coach Chuck Rapp knew his team did well to walk away with a win.
“They played hard,” said Rapp of the ‘Balers. “They played hard and they scrapped and they took us out of some of our stuff by being so physical. I thought we started well and we finished well, but in between there, we lacked consistency.”
Dan Mavraides and Favetti led Serra with 14 and 12 points, respectively. The Padres also shot a stellar 19-of-24 from the free-throw line.
Baladad contributed five points and five rebounds for the ‘Balers, while Dean Wilkins, Sterling Wilson and Medeiros all pulled down four rebounds.
Serra (6-3) advanced to play Salinas–a 64-56 victor over Carmel in yesterday’s early game–in the semifinals of the tournament, while San Benito is set to play Carmel in the consolation round today at 3:30.
Asked his team’s mindset entering the Carmel game, Bueno said, “To get a win so we can play on Friday.”
A victory today would propel the ‘Balers to the consolation championship; a loss would send them home early.
