San Benito was on a fast break early in the first quarter, two quick passes left Ellie Burley wide open under the basket, but the pass was just off the mark.
The mishandling of the basketball, and strong defense was the theme of Tuesday’s game against Notre Dame, as both the Balers and the Spirits struggled to find an offensive rhythm in a fast-paced defensive struggle.
Despite a few moments of good offensive push; the Balers fell to the Spirits 33-25 in the early-season Tri-County Athletic League game.
The loss gives the Balers a 1-2 record in league and propels the Spirits to a league-leading 3-0 record.
“We felt this was a big game because they are a team that can win this league,” head coach Mitch Burley said. “Tonight we just couldn’t hit our shots.”
Neither team really could.
The game went nearly five minutes before San Benito’s Ellie Burley sunk a short shot to give the Balers an early 2-0 lead. The Balers’ leading scorer Kelsey Robledo quickly followed with a basket of her own on the next possession to extend the Balers’ lead. But that was the only two baskets of the game’s first eight minutes for the Balers. On the other end, the Spirits could only muster one basket.
“We played well defensively,” Mitch Burley said. “They were missing some shots but we did a good job forcing them to make some tough shots.”
In the first quarter, the Spirits made one out of 10 shots to fall behind.
But the quick offense of the Spirits started to make shots in the next quarter to pull ahead.
Behind Alyxis Guerra and Jenna Linehan, Notre Dame took the control of the game and went into halftime with a 12-7 lead.
San Benito struggled to find open shots, and failed to get the ball to Robledo, who controlled the middle of the floor with 10 points throughout the game.
“We need to get her the ball, and we didn’t do it enough tonight,” Mitch Burley said.
San Benito struggled to find secondary scoring, with only one other player who made more than one basket – Kim Sparrer, who finished with four points.
In the second half, the Balers couldn’t pull closer and was put away when Notre Dame went to the free-throw line late in the game. From the line, the Spirits sank six of their seven shots to quell any Baler comeback.
San Benito continues its league season Thursday, when the team travels to Alisal. The game is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.
