Last week provided an incredible string of upsets for sports
fans, whether your interests lie in the local sports scene or
beyond.
Last week provided an incredible string of upsets for sports fans, whether your interests lie in the local sports scene or beyond.
Of course, it all started with the Florida’s shocking 41-14 blowout over Ohio State in the BCS National Championship game.
The Buckeyes were the team that was supposed to demolish the Gators, and while I earned $20 betting on Florida, even I didn’t expect a win of that magnitude.
The slate of NFL playoff games also provide plenty of entertainment.
While I’ve repeatedly insisted that with the parity in the NFL, I’ll never call any game in the playoffs an upset, the top-seeded Chargers falling to New England somewhat resembles one because of the way San Diego had been playing and with them being at home. But any team that has Tom Brady (the modern-day Joe Montana) can never have a win classified as an upset.
While those two games served as a bookend for an exciting week, you can’t look past the midweek events and not say they were the highlights.
When San Benito High traveled to face Gilroy on Wednesday in boys basketball, it knew it was going up against a team it wasn’t expected to beat.
The Mustangs won the Tri-County Athletic League title last year and several new additions had them looking every bit like the team to beat at the start of the year. Even Gilroy’s loss to Palma on opening night didn’t do much to make that matchup look any closer.
But the Haybalers shrugged off all of that. Their win, a 70-62 overtime decision, has propelled San Benito into contention in the league.
At 3-1 in league, the ‘Balers are in second place behind 4-0 Palma. Overtaking the Chieftains for first place should prove to be difficult – Palma beat San Benito 59-45 in their first meeting – but the Gilroy win, coupled with a surprisingly easy victory over Alvarez, has the ‘Balers thinking about second place and the accompanying berth in the Central Coast Section playoffs.
As the excitement was settling down from the big boys basketball win, another San Benito team was busy throwing its name in the hat as a possible TCAL contender.
The ‘Balers girls soccer team, which failed to win a game in league play last year, faced off against North Salinas on Thursday with nothing to lose and everything to gain.
The Vikings entered the game as defending league champions and with a spotless 3-0 league record. They also came in riding the play of the area’s leading scorer, Tannia Hernandez, who had with 22 goals in her first 10 games.
So what did San Benito do? It shut down Hernandez, got a pair of goals from JC Clayton and two assists from leading scorer Sophie Coelho in a 3-1 win.
The win – definitely the team’s best of the season – has the ‘Balers confident and beginning to look every bit like a team that could be adding an extra week or two to the end of its season.
Jimmy Durkin is the Hollister Free Lance sports editor. Reach him at (831) 637-5566 ext. 334 or [email protected].
