CASTROVILLE – San Benito’s Isaiah Acfalle jumped the Salinas in-bounds pass, and in one motion passed the ball to Brian Bacerra for an easy score. Seconds later Acfalle did the same thing.
The back-to-back steals and Bacerra lay-ups erupted the San Benito bench and the supporting crowd, which traveled to the North Monterey County site. And they had a good reason to cheer.
With a 48-35 lead in the Condor Christmas Classic championship game Friday, the Balers looked like they would beat league-rival Salinas for the first time since the 2008-2009 season. A win over the defending Tri-County League champions – and a second tournament championship – could have propelled the Balers into a successful league season.
Despite the fist pumping from head coach David Kaplansky and the Balers 13-point lead, San Benito wilted under the pressure of Salinas’ full-court zone defense in the game’s final moments. Using a trap defense, Salinas forced San Benito to turn the ball over on nearly every possession in the game’s closing moments.
The Balers allowed the Cowboys to tally 16 of the game’s final 18 points, to lose 51-50. The loss snaps the Balers eight-game winning streak and halts their record at 9-3 entering the league season Wednesday.
But Friday’s loss might have been the Balers most disappointing finish of the year.
“They didn’t handle the pressure well,” Kaplansky said. “I felt like my guys were allowing themselves to get trapped. We talked about it after the game, we have to attack those traps. My guys allowed themselves to get trapped – we put the ball over our head and got into the fetal position.”
He continued: “And when we tried to pass we were just too late. We were passing right into their rotations.”
Acfalle, who finished the game with a team-high 13 points, believed the Balers folded down the stretch, he said.
“We just didn’t look to score – we folded,” Acfalle said. “We didn’t look to make points. We almost gave up. We let the other team make us play like they want us to play. Next time, we just have to play our game. We can’t let them push us around. We have to play strong and play like Balers play.”
Even after allowing the Cowboys’ 14-point run, San Benito still had a chance to win the game.
After a timeout with less than 10 seconds left on the clock, the Balers ran a set play to get the ball to Jacob Tonascia inside the key. By sending shooter Hyram Miskin to the wing – attracting an extra Cowboy defender – Tonascia was open.
Fading back from the rim, Tonascia placed the ball into the net, giving San Benito a 50-49 lead with seconds left on the clock. However, San Benito left Salinas’ Josef Delk too much time.
The Cowboys struck back quickly, as Delk drove to the basket for an easy lay-up. With three seconds left, San Benito tried for one more shot but a half-court in-bounds pass was intercepted by the Cowboys. It was a fitting end to a tough, non-league battle with a league opponent.
“They did a good job,” Kaplansky said of Salinas. “They finished the game off the right way. I’m just disappointed we didn’t win this game. It was there for the taking. We had a little nice momentum build there early in the fourth, but they finished the game better then we did.”
Despite the loss, the type of play from the Balers showed they could play with anyone, but still had work to do.
“It’s really important because it was a league opponent,” Tonascia said. “We have to play them two more times so that’s good and bad. But it showed we need to handle pressure a little bit better, and work on ball movement. It’s a tough one.”
He continued, “It just shows that we are getting a lot better.”
After losing in the final moments for the second time this year, the team still needs to work on finishing games, Kaplansky said.
“It was great. I’m confident my guys can play with a team like this,” Kaplansky said. “I just need to make sure they finish the game better. We did a bad job finishing off the game. We have to work at it in practice. We have to work on the situations.”
With the offense struggling to find a consistent offensive push, the defense began to falter down the stretch, allowing open looks for the Cowboys – who scored 16 fourth-quarter points and 30 second-half points.
Overall, the defense limited Salinas to its lowest scoring total of the season.
“The team defense is really good,” Miskin said. “Tonight, we just couldn’t get anything going on our offense. They were running a trap and when the pressure came to us, we just turned it over and threw it out of bounds.”
Even with the championship game loss, the tournament was successful for San Benito. San Benito dominated opponents North Monterey County and Stevenson, winning by a combined 109-52 total.
“I think we are playing fairly well, other than tonight’s loss,” Miskin said after the championship game.
The outcome, though, only pushes the Balers to the two teams’ next meeting.
“I think we will do really good,” Miskin said. “We will get back at them when we play again. I think we have them.”
The Balers begin league play Wednesday when they host North Salinas at 7 p.m.
Girls Basketball
The Balers ended the Del Mar Tournament on a positive note Saturday, beating San Francisco’s Abraham Lincoln 52-38 to avoid finishing in last place at the San Jose tournament.
The victory was the girls basketball team’s only win of the three-game tournament. The win also ends the Balers’ three-game skid, and sends San Benito into league play with a 7-5 record.
In Saturday’s game, San Benito jumped to a 19-13 first quarter lead. The Balers extended their lead in all but the final quarter to pull away with the 14-point victory.
Kelsey Robledo finished the game with a team-high 16 points. Sharpshooter, Taylor Fabing finished with 13, including three 3-point shots. Madeleine LePore added 7 more points for the Balers in the win.
The victory ended a tournament where the Balers struggled to score, tallying 37 points in the first two games. Robledo was the Balers main offensive threat throughout, scoring at least 13 points in each game.
San Benito will open league play Tuesday at North Salinas. The game is expected to start at 7 p.m.
