San Benito’s Janessa Gillies bookended a strong game Friday with
an assist and the game-winning goal as the Lady ‘Balers outlasted a
visiting Santa Catalina squad 3-2 in Hollister.
San Benito’s Janessa Gillies bookended a strong game Friday with an assist and the game-winning goal as the Lady ‘Balers outlasted a visiting Santa Catalina squad 3-2 in Hollister.
San Benito (3-1-0) never trailed in the match to Santa Catalina (2-1-1), who entered the contest red hot, scoring 14 goals in their previous three games, including a 10-0 victory against York School.
And the Lady ‘Balers managed keep them off the scoreboard in the first half as well, while Gillies assisted Sophie Coelho in the first minute of regulation.
But San Benito, whose half-backs controlled midfield and kept the ball in Santa Catalina’s zone through the first 40 minutes, could only deposit the single goal past keeper Sarah Wright in the first half.
“We should have had more than one goal in the first half,” coach Mike Schurig said. “We controlled the game in the first half. But toward the end, we slowed down.”
That shift in momentum toward the end of the half may have resulted in Santa Catalina’s first goal. Just two minutes into the second half, in the 42nd minute, midfielder April Campos took a wide-open shot from 20 yards out straight away.
“They didn’t get many shots, but we weren’t finishing,” Schurig said. “Our finishing needed a little work.”
The tie ball game was rather short lived, however, as San Benito’s JC Clayton responded right back one minute later on a penalty kick from outside the box. Clayton’s kick from the right side crossed left and ricocheted off Wright’s hands and into the corner of the net.
But Campos, once again, kept the Cougars in the ball game. The Santa Catalina sophomore was alone in front of the net in the 50th minute, and after receiving a pass from Kate Wright, scored her second goal into the left corner.
“They were moving fast … quick transitions,” Schurig said. “So our defense was caught off guard a few times.”
But it was Gillies, who started the game with an assist, finished it with the go-ahead score. The senior cut toward the goal from the right side and kicked a one-timer that the goalie Wright deflected. But the keeper was whistled for a pushing penalty inside the box, and Gillies set herself up in the 70th minute for the game winner.
Gillies kicked right, and although Wright put a glove on it, the ball slid into the right corner of the net.
“The key thing is that the girls kept at it,” Schurig said.
Santa Catalina had a chance to tie late, when fullback Isabelle Williams lofted a shot from 35 yards out. But San Benito keeper Emily Key deflected the shot left, and the ball pinged off the left post.
San Benito’s back line of Rachel Maheu, Celina De La Cruz and Nicole Yost managed to hold strong in the waning minutes.
After beating a Central Coast Section D-III qualifier in Santa Catalina, San Benito will look to do it once again when they’ll host Scotts Valley Tuesday at 3:30 p.m.
Boys Basketball
San Benito 67, MVC 32
Aptos
Dominic Zanella supplied 16 points and seven rebounds and led the San Benito Haybalers to an easy 67-32 win over Monte Vista Christian Friday in Aptos.
It was the second game of the 25th Annual Aptos Seascape Classic for San Benito, and after the Haybalers fell 75-62 to Pioneer Thursday, the team rebounded with a resounding victory against MVC.
The ‘Balers will now play today against Gunn in a consolation game at 3:30 p.m. at Aptos High School.
Gunn will likely be a better opponent than MVC, who combined for four points in the first and fourth quarters.
“We were able to run our offense a little bit better than [Thursday] night, and that kind of helped,” coach John Becerra said. “And everybody played, so that was good also.”
The Haybalers opened the game defensively with a full-court press and a man-to-man set, but quickly removed the pressure defense about five minutes in.
San Benito outscored MVC 15-3 in the first quarter.
The ‘Balers had 10 different scorers Friday, with only Zanella reaching double digits.
Tyler Ruiz and Kevin Burley each had nine points, and Josh Bryant added six points and seven rebounds.
In the fourth quarter, the ‘Balers seemingly cruised, outscoring MVC 16-1.
Team 1 2 3 4 F
SB 15 22 14 16 67
MVC 3 14 14 1 32
SB – Medina 1 0 0 2, Canchola 1 0 0 2, Bryant 2 0 2 6, Pina 1 0 0 2, Bueno 3 0 0 6, Haggett 1 1 2 7, Taylor 2 0 4 8, Burley 3 0 3 9, Zanella 8 0 0 16, Ruiz 4 0 1 9.
Anzar 59, Pajaro Valley 66
Watsonville
The Anzar Hawks outscored Pajaro Valley 19-3 in the first quarter but couldn’t hold on for the win and fell to the Grizzlies 66-59 in Watsonville Friday.
After the opening period, Pajaro Valley turned the corner and outscored the Hawks in each of the remaining three quarters.
“It was a strange game,” coach Ed Cecena said. “We did a good job against their pressure. But I don’t know what it was, if it was the conditioning or what.”
Cecena said the Grizzlies used a trap defense the entire game, and at first, the Hawks were able to find the open man and knock down the shot.
But in the second quarter, Pajaro Valley hit three of their 11 3-pointers on the night, and things started to “snowball.”
In the third, the Grizzlies outscored Anzar 24-15.
“They out-hustled us,” Cecena said. “The outplayed us and that was the turning point.”
Anzar’s Erik Olson, who had 15 points, 13 rebounds and six blocks, was covered for much of the night.
“They did a good job surrounding him,” the coach said. “Our gameplan was to get the ball inside and we didn’t do much of that.”
It was the first loss for Anzar (2-1), who will host St. Thomas More on Tuesday at 7 p.m. in San Juan Bautista.
Anzar – Indarose 4 3 3 14, Mockabee 2 1 0 5, Waller 5 0 1 11, Rania 6 0 0 12, Olson 6 0 3 15, Martinez 1 0 0 2.
Boys Soccer
San Benito 4, King City 4
King City
The San Benito Haybalers held a 4-1 lead at one point in the second half but couldn’t keep host King City at bay Thursday, and the two teams battled to a 4-4 tie.
It marks San Benito’s (1-1-2) second tie of the season, after they fared 2-2 in their opener to North Monterey County.
But coach Ben Alvarez was pleased with the way his Haybalers played, and said the team’s practices are beginning to carryover to the games.
“Overall, the team played outstanding,” he said. “They’re coming together. They know what we need to do and they’re coming together as a team.”
After King City got on the scoreboard within the first five minutes of the game, scoring on a penalty kick, San Benito responded with three unanswered goals to finish the half.
In the 15th minute, Alex Castillo scored unassisted, while Josh Flores put the ‘Balers one up five minutes later on a penalty kick. Just before the half, Noe Magana deposited one into the back of the net to put San Benito up 3-1.
“After that (goal), we controlled from there on,” Alvarez said.
The ‘Balers scored in the 50th minute as well, when Flores picked up his second goal of the game to push San Benito’s lead to 4-1.
But after a few substitutions and some mental mistakes, Alvarez said, King City came right back in the game three goals strong.
“And they just came one after the other,” he said.
But the coach feels his team is making strides toward the league opener on Dec. 11 at Palma.
“We’re definitely going to be ready,” he said. “The kids are excited. They are pumped up. Things are looking good.”
Before Palma, though, San Benito will host Monterey on Monday at 3:30 p.m. and will travel to Pebble Beach to take on Stevenson next Thursday at 3:30 p.m.
JV Note: The San Benito junior varsity team defeated King City 2-0 Thursday.
“The JVs dominated, and King City has a very strong team,” Alvarez said. “Nothing got past our defense. It was like a wall.”
The JVs will host Monterey Monday at 3:30 p.m.
Freshmen Girls Basketball
San Benito 42, Salinas 22
SALInAs
The San Benito freshmen girls basketball team won the Notre Dame Tournament after they defeated Salinas 42-22 Thursday.
Erin Glasspool was named tournament MVP and Nicole Rianda was selected to the all-tournament team for San Benito, who remain undefeated at 4-0.
Salinas opened with a full-court press, and coach Tom Dean said the Lady ‘Balers had difficulty breaking the press.
But after a discussion, San Benito broke through the press and began forcing turnovers and moving the ball upcourt.
“We never looked back and maintained control of the game from then on,” Dean said. San Benito would outscore Salinas 16-5 in the second quarter.
Glasspool led San Benito with 11 points, four rebounds and three steals and Michelle Fortino had seven points on 5 of 8 free throws. Rianda added seven points and four rebounds.
The Lady ‘Balers compiled 27 rebounds and shot 35 percent (14 of 41) from the field. From the line, San Benito shot 39 percent (10 of 26)
“It was a hard game for us but that is when a good team raises up and meets the challenge,” Dean said.
San Benito will play in the Aptos Tournament on Thursday and are slated to see Seaside in the first game.
Team 1 2 3 4 F
SB 4 16 12 10 42
Sal 9 5 6 2 22
