The boys basketball team didn’t win the Cupertino Shootout, but compared with last year’s 0-3 showing, the Balers improved and continued to get better as the tournament went on.
That improvement, though, still didn’t stop San Benito from dropping its first two games over the tournament to finish in seventh place with a 1-2 record.
The Balers lone win came in the tournament’s final game, a 55-48 victory over Los Altos.
“It was a good evaluation week,” head coach David Kaplansky said. “We progressed throughout the week.”
The weekend started with a 10-point loss to host Cupertino. In the game, San Benito finished the first quarter tied at 15, but in the second quarter the Balers started to have some issues on the offensive end.
San Benito struggled to find open looks and rushed shots, giving Cupertino easy offensive chances on the other end. Cupertino took advantage, scoring 16 points to the Balers’ six to go into halftime with a 10-point lead.
“We were shooting too fast and taking the first open shot,” Kaplansky said. “We were playing too much defense and not enough offense.”
That type of play stuck with the Balers during the early parts of the weekend, Kaplansky said.
“I think we wanted to shoot the ball every time we got a first look,” Kaplansky said. “As we got into the weekend we started to take longer and getting into rhythm.”
The Balers’ Jordan Belton finished the tournament as the team’s leading scorer by tallying 56 points over the three games.
But because of San Benito’s quick-strike offense – that rushed shots and opened looks – the Balers mostly relied on only a couple of scorers. Belton and forward Isaiah Acfalle led the team in scoring for all three games.
“We need to trust the team and trust each other,” Kaplansky said. “That will come.”
Acfalle had his best game in San Benito’s second tournament game.
The senior hit five 3-point shots to pull away with 23 points. However, the high point total wasn’t enough for San Benito as the Balers lost 56-54 to Mills.
San Benito led after every quarter, except the final one. Mills went on a 19-10 run to blow past the Balers and sneak by with the two-point victory.
“We blew it,” Kaplansky said. “We seemed a little lethargic and it cost us.”
Only Belton and Acfalle scored in double digits for San Benito. Michael Breen contributed 8 points – including two 3-pointers.
But the team responded to the tough loss, Kaplansky said.
“The kids came back Saturday ready,” he said. “It was great to see that.”
The Balers came out with a strong first quarter, blowing away Lost Altos 22-7. Los Altos made a short run in the third quarter – outscoring San Benito 15-7 – but it was as close as they would get to the Balers.
Belton led the way with 18 points, as Acfalle added 11 points and Hyram Miskin added 13 points. It was the only game – and the only victory – that the Balers had three players in double digits.
Jacob Tonascia also added 8 points in the win.
Before the tournament started, Kaplansky wanted to improve on last year’s 0-3 mark to show the team has improved. Despite only winning one game, Kaplansky thought the weekend had encouraging signs.
The offense struggled to begin the weekend, but got better with each game to culminate in the Balers’ only win. The defense, meanwhile, continued to slow down opposing offenses despite making mistakes throughout each game.
The mistakes will eventually dwindle away once the team has more time with the system, Kaplansky said.
“We are still figuring it out,” he said. “We need to get better at recognizing in transition. We need to identify the players on the other team and get better and transition defense.”
He continued, “It will get better with more games and more practice.”
Editor’s note: The San Benito High School boys’ junior varsity team won its annual tournament at Mattson Gym over the weekend, defeating Watsonville and Pajaro Valley to reach the championship game against Christopher, which had beaten Gilroy in the other semifinal.
The Balers won the title game 70-60 to extend their record to 4-0 on the year. R.J. Collins and Andrew Breen were named to the all-tournament team.
