It became a struggle for Taylor Fabing to find her shooting stroke over the first couple games of the new season for the Balers.
But Saturday in the fifth-place game of the Watsonville Wildcatz Invitational, Fabing found her rhythm.
The junior drained two 3-pointers and scored a team-high 16 points as San Benito won its second game in a row to even its record at 2-2 by beating league-rival Salinas 56-51.
“Thursday’s game (against St. Francis C.C. Catholic) she had a really tough day and she was pretty upset,” head coach Mitch Burley said of Fabing. “And they were running zone and we need her to be the zone buster, I guess. And today she was able to do that. She kept us around in that first half when we weren’t scoring and they were in that zone – and that’s kind of her job. I’m glad she came through and I’m sure she is really excited.”
After starting the season with back-to-back losses – including the opening game of the Watsonville Invite to St. Francis C.C. Catholic – San Benito used strong defense and timely shooting to finally get back on the winning track.
“Well, I think the defense led to the offense,” Burley said. “The defense created some energy. We learned how to score (Saturday).”
In the weekend tournament – where the Balers went 2-1 – senior Kelsey Robledo led the way for San Benito. Robledo was a low-post force in San Benito’s four-overtime win against Christopher on Friday.
Robledo scored a game-high 19 points to help San Benito come from behind twice in the final seconds of regulation and the third overtime, Burley said.
Coming off of a blowout 49-32 loss to St. Francis C.C. Catholic, San Benito wanted to protect the perimeter better and force more turnovers, Burley said. And they did just that.
San Benito limited the high-scoring Cougars to 51 regulation points and 13 points in overtime to come away with the victory.
“They played really great,” Burley said after the win Friday.
Overall, the Balers got better as the tournament continued, Burley said.
“The most important thing is that (Saturday) we learned – (Friday) we learned how to break the press – and (Saturday) we learned we could make some shots,” Burley said. “We are moving forward.”
And that growth started with the Christopher game.
Down by two points with seconds left in regulation, a strong play to the bucket from Robledo sent the Balers to the free-throw line with a chance to tie. The senior sank both shots to send San Benito to overtime with Christopher.
In the third overtime, San Benito once again found themselves down by two points. With less than a second left, Ellie Burley went to the free-throw line and tied up the game to send the contest to its fourth overtime.
In the final session, the Balers pulled away thanks to a stifling defense and its free-throw making.
“You talk about the inexperience of our team, and now they are showing that they’ve learned how to do this,” Burley said. “To win a four-overtime game is pretty rare, and to hold off Salinas at the end there will build our confidence.”
And four games into the season, the confidence is at a season high.
Fabing, who scored 29 combined points in the tournaments final two games, believed the back-to-back wins gave the team’s offense some momentum and confidence, she said.
“Offensively, we were making stronger passes – quicker passes – and defensively, we were just holding them to the shot clock,” Fabing said. “For me, it has given me a lot of confidence and I’m pretty sure it gives the team a lot of confidence. We played great.”
More importantly, the wins give San Benito a chance to see “where they stand,” Robledo said.
“Obviously, it’s not that many games, but from who’ve they played and who we played (Friday) – it’s a good measuring stick for us,” she said. “It’s really important.”
And Burley expects the team to get better with each game.
“I think we are going in the right direction,” Burley said. “You look at any of these tournaments and if you could go 2-1 in all of them you’ll have a good record. That’s our goal.”
San Benito will travel to Alisal on Thursday for the Alisal Winter Jam Tournament. The Balers open the tournament against Aptos at 5 p.m.
