Despite a 7-0 run to nearly end the final quarter of Tuesday’s game, the San Benito girls basketball team was held under 30 points for the second time in three games, and lost to league-rival Salinas 35-28.
The game itself represented the Balers 9-8 season as a whole. The team played suffocating defense but struggled mightily on the offensive end of the court.
“I think we have to be because we don’t have as much offense,” head coach Mitch Burley said of his defense. “Thirty-five is enough to win. We just have to get a few more shots to go in.”
During Tuesday’s loss, the Balers struggled to find shots. Instead, the team turned the ball over once it entered the offensive zone.
Burley believed his team was trying to move too fast, and wasn’t settling down.
“It’s that experience factor,” Burley said. “I remember as a kid listening to Larry Bird. He said, ‘the basketball court is the only thing in my life that makes sense. I see it in slow motion. Everything else is out of control. On the basketball court everything slows down.’ And that’s what they don’t have. Mentally they are racing and then it shows in their play.”
And the best example of that was the game’s opening moments.
Defensively, the Balers limited Salinas’ second chances, allowing them to score only 7 first-quarter points. But offensively, the Balers couldn’t handle the basketball.
After crossing mid-court, the Baler passes skipped off of players’ hands regardless of the Cowboy pressure.
“I don’t think it had anything to do with their defense,” Burley said of Salinas. “It had everything to do with us turning the ball over. That’s what we talked about. We turned the ball over too much.”
Despite the offensive struggles, the Baler defense kept the game within striking distance. In the opening moments of the fourth quarter, Salinas started to pull away, eventually grabbing a 31-21 lead with less than five minutes to play.
After a quick timeout, the Balers came out flying.
Cassandra Barraza started the Baler comeback on a hustle play on the offensive end. After a mishandling of the ball, the ball eventually went to Barraza, who made an open lay-up. On a Salinas’ fast break, Barraza ran down the court and blocked an open shot.
With a quick pass, Ellie Burley made an open shot, giving the Balers a 4-0 run.
The Balers held the momentum for a few possessions, but could never take the lead.
“That was nice, huh. It made it a game,” Mitch Burley said. “We were so much in a hole. We were spending so much energy getting out of that hole.”
The Balers travel to Alvarez at 7 p.m. Thursday.
