Hollister High stood by helpless in the second quarter as
Salinas’ Drew Sanchez took over one of the most important games in
recent years at Mattson Gym Thursday.
Hollister High stood by helpless in the second quarter as Salinas’ Drew Sanchez took over one of the most important games in recent years at Mattson Gym Thursday.
In front of a packed house, Sanchez, a 6-foot-2 whirling dervish point guard, went crazy with 17 second period points, breaking open the game eventually won in convincing fashion by the Cowboys 78-54.
For the night, Sanchez went off for a game-high 31 points, added several spectacular dishes, plus a few steals as the Balers simply had no answer for him.
“Sanchez is a good ballplayer,” said Baler head coach David Kaplansky in an understatement. “He only had two points in the first quarter, but he was dishing to others. We tried to prepare for that type of player, along with (Casey) Neligh, but you can’t duplicate it in practice. Eric (Davis) did the best he could trying to guard Sanchez. We had to play man because Salinas shoots too well from outside. All the teams in this league do.”
The Balers (17-4, 3-1 Tri-County Athletic League) have almost three weeks to design a better game plan to slow down one of the best guards in the Central Coast Section in Sanchez, for the two teams meet once more on Feb. 19 in Salinas. But that was only part of the problem for the Balers in Thursday’s devasting defeat, which had the inside track to the T-CAL title at stake.
The athletic and quick Cowboys (16-4, 4-0) forced 23 Baler turnovers, seven in the second period, where the game turned decidedly in favor of the Cowboys. Before that, the taller Balers had given a fairly good account of themselves as they grounded out 18 first period points, six by Kyle Sharp to trail by just one after eight minutes.
An Anthony Butler jump hook from 10-feet right side angle went down to begin the second and the Balers and their fans were very much in it up 20-19. And it looked even rosier when one of the Cowboys starters, Chris Choate, picked up his third foul at the 5:36 mark and had to come out of the game.
But, if there was an bad omen at all for the Balers, Sharp picked up his third 50 seconds later and had to come out as well. The pace picked up which meant advantage Cowboys. Sanchez, on a great look, found junior Evan Smith for a deuce.
Kaplansky, sensing the game slipping away, inserted Sharp back into the game at 1:27. But this was Sanchez’ time. First a follow shot for 40-28. Up 42-30, Salinas head coach Joe Chappell, one of the true deans of CCS coaches in his 32nd year, wanted his club to burn some clock with less than a minute left in the half. The Cowboys passed it around the perimeter and the ball ended up in Sanchez’ hands at the top of the key as the shot clock wound down. Sanchez, who was inexplicably left alone, buried the trey with 29 seconds left in the half and a 15-point Cowboys’ lead.
The Balers then made an even more critical mistake. Instead of running the clock all the way down to take the final shot of the half, a shot went up with 12 seconds to go. Salinas got the board and Sanchez (who else?) pushed the ball across the midcourt line, pulled up from 28 feet and found nothing but net just before the buzzer sounded. Sanchez, not really one to hot dog, couldn’t help himself as he skated towards the Salinas bench as the ball was going down.
He knew it was good. 48-30 Salinas at the break, a six-point swing.
“I felt I was in a groove,” said Sanchez, who has yet to commit to any lucky college, yet.
“He’s probably the best offensive guard I’ve ever had,” added Chappell.
In one wishes numbers, the free-wheeling Cowboys were 7-18 from beyond the arc (39 per cent), while the Balers were just 4-of-15 (27 per cent). Eight of 18 free throw shooting didn’t help the Balers, either, who were 13-16 last Tuesday at North Salinas.
Sharp ended up with 18 points, 12 in the first half, but he didn’t have much help offensively. Guard Broc Sondgroth couldn’t get warmed up from the perimeter until the second half when he totaled 11 of his 14 points.
The game was a far cry from the North Salinas Tournament when the Balers went off for 85 points to top the Cowboys by nine.
“We still had our football legs back then,” said Neligh, who like teammates Choate and Christian Taylor were integral parts of the Cowboys title football team that was eliminated by Bellarmine in the semis of the CCS playoffs. “We came out more intense tonight. Hollister can have the tournament. We want to win league.”
“Hollister’s a good team,” said Chappell. “We’ve improved a lot since the tournament. We’re on a good roll right now, but the race is far from over. Hollister will be back.”
“Our kids played hard the whole game,” said Kaplansky. “I’m proud of them. We’re still young and we went up against a team that has been playing together a long time. We let them penetrate our man defense for easy shots. They did a good job of keeping the tempo up. This was a reality check for us tonight.”
The Balers try to regroup at Palma on Tuesday, while Salinas hosts North Salinas.
Baler bits: Sharp led the Balers with nine rebounds, seven on the offensive end. Butler had just four boards. –Â Live Oak (2-2) defeated Palma (2-2) Thursday so the Balers are alone in second place with six games left on the league schedule.
JV score: Salinas 56, Hollister 48. The Balers (9-8) had 13 points from Henry Taylor and 10 points from Jeff Hawks, who hit two treys right off the street.
“We need to take better care of the basketball,” said Baler head coach Joe Bonura. “Salinas is a good team.”
The Baler frosh won.
Salinas 19 29 19 11 – 78
Hollister 18 12 14 18 – 54
S – Sanchez 12 4-6 31, Choate 2 0-0 5, Neligh 4 0-0 9, Taylor 2 5-8 10, Incaviglia 2 2-2 7, Techeira 1 0-0 2, Smith 4 0-0 8, McCarty 3 0-0 6. Totals 27 11-16 78.
H – Sharp 8 1-2 18, Butler 2 0-6 4, Brooks 2 0-1 4, Sondgroth 5 1-2 14, Davis 0 3-4 3, Fajardo 0 1-2 1, Sims 1 0-0 2, Zanella 3 1-1 7, Leal 0 1-2 1. Totals 21 8-18 54.
3-point goals: Sanchez 3, Choate, Neligh, Incaviglia, Taylor (S); Sharp, Sondgroth 3 (H).
