GILROY
–– The San Benito hoopsters stormed into garlic city to face the
Mustangs on Wednesday’s ‘Senior Night’ tied for the league lead
with Live Oak, which was playing simultaneously against North
Salinas in Morgan Hill.
Gilroy was looking for the upset with a packed house of fans
filling the home side of the stands, but the Haybalers brought
their own cheering section that was just as rowdy on the visiting
side.
GILROY –– The San Benito hoopsters stormed into garlic city to face the Mustangs on Wednesday’s ‘Senior Night’ tied for the league lead with Live Oak, which was playing simultaneously against North Salinas in Morgan Hill.
Gilroy was looking for the upset with a packed house of fans filling the home side of the stands, but the Haybalers brought their own cheering section that was just as rowdy on the visiting side.
At night’s end, the Haybalers (6-1 in T-CAL, 17-6 overall) had cruised to a 59-34 victory over the Mustangs, while the Acorns (5-2 in T-CAL, 18-4 overall) suffered a crushing 63-46 defeat at the hands of the Vikings to give Hollister sole possession of first place.
“The big thing was to take the crowd out of the game early, since we came out with a good start, instead of having this hostile environment,” said Baler head coach David Kaplansky, whose squad is on a six-game winning streak. “It kind of mellowed out a little bit.”
Gilroy (2-5 in T-CAL, 4-14 overall) was even with Hollister at halftime in its first meeting before falling apart in the second half. The Mustangs matched the Haybalers early on, trailing 14-10 at the end of the first quarter.
But Hollister methodically picked apart the Gilroy double-team defense as the game wore on, stretching the gap to 29-16 at the half and 43-27 at the end of the third quarter.
“They were a lot better this time than when we played them at their place,” Mustang head coach Bud Ogden said. “They were very good. I’ve got to believe if they can play at this level like they did tonight, getting production out of their guards, they will do pretty well at CCS.”
The Mustangs had a game plan going in of shutting down Hollister’s two big men, Kyle Sharp and Anthony Butler. The strategy of doubling them did keep their offensive numbers down with Sharp, who averages 20.2 points per game, finishing with 11 points and Butler with 10 points.
“The game plan was whenever Sharp got it we’re going to run and double him and get it out of his hands. Whenever Butler got it, we were going to double, because against Live Oak they had 90 percent of their points,” Ogden said. ” I said if the other guys are going to beat us, they’ve got to beat us, and that’s what happened.”
The Balers showed their depth, as guard Eric Davis netted a game-high 17 points, including 7-of-8 from the charity stripe in the fourth quarter alone, and Darrell Baladad added 13 points.
“It was a great team effort, probably the most balanced we’ve had in league as far as scoring the whole year,” Kaplansky said. “We had good balance and a lot of guys stepped up and contributed. When the double-teams came, they were able to knock down the perimeter shots.”
Gilroy had no player score in double-digits, mostly due to the aggressive Hollister defense that did not offer many clean looks. Brandt Chacon, Mark Kennedy, Adam Moon and Kyle Warren each tallied six points for the Mustangs.
“We’re doing a nice job out on the perimeter defending people and I think tonight getting out there defensively kinda dictated the tempo,” Kaplansky said. “It wasn’t really the inside game tonight. I thought we did a really nice job guarding their wings and their guards, and getting steals out in the perimeter, getting easy buckets.”
Nothing came easy for Gilroy, which hung around just enough to give its hometown fans something to cheer about, battling with the Hollister faithful.
The Mustangs made a short run in the third quarter, cutting the gap to 13 on a Moon lay-in with 3:52 left that immediately prompted a Haybaler time-out. Hollister then went on a 5-2 run to end the quarter with a 16-point advantage.
“I think a lot of that had to do with their defense. Their defense plays pretty aggressive,” Ogden said. “We had first shots and no second shots. Rarely did we get a second shot. They also got us out of what we’re trying to do. They really made us turn it over.”
The spread was down to 13 again in the fourth quarter, but a technical foul issued to Ogden for arguing a call allowed Hollister to net two free throws and gain possession.
After a Sharp jumper came up short, senior Kyle Loving hit one of two from the line to make it a 14-point ball game, but Davis started penetrating and living at the free-throw line. Soon the gap reached 26 with 1:57 remaining.
“What I tried to set up actually worked because we held (Butler and Sharp) to 10 and 11,” Ogden said. “The guys who stepped up had to step up. I wasn’t sure if those guys were good enough scorers to step up and fill that void if we held those two guys down.”
Up next for Gilroy is Friday’s road game against Palma at 7 p.m. and for Hollister is Friday’s road game against North Salinas at 7 p.m.
JV Note: The JV Balers lost 55-29 to the Mustangs.
