San Jose – They were never supposed to get this far. They weren’t supposed to win the Tri-County Athletic League outright. They weren’t supposed to beat Piedmont Hills, and they weren’t supposed to beat top-seeded Carlmont in the Central Coast Section Division I championship on Friday night.
They weren’t supposed to do any of that.
But after falling terribly short in the experience department to Carlmont, the San Benito girls basketball team not only beat the defending champion Scots on the court Friday, but they did so in a rather surprising and somewhat easy way.
They weren’t supposed to do most of what they accomplished this season, but they did so almost as if they’ve done it before.
The Lady ‘Balers, now winners of 14 of their last 15 games, became the most accomplished basketball team in school history Friday after they beat Carlmont 54-43 on Walt McPherson Court at the Events Center on the San Jose State University campus.
After going 3-0 in the CCS playoffs, bringing their overall record to 23-5 – a dramatic turnaround from last year’s 8-15 season – San Benito is in a class by itself. They’re the only Hollister basketball team to make it to the CCS finals, and now, they’re the only team to win it as well.
“It’s my first year at varsity, and it’s awesome. I’m in awe,” said post player Lauren Ademek, who scored a well-earned eight points, mostly all of which came in the paint. “I won’t know how to react until tomorrow.”
Using the defense that got them to the CCS final, San Benito managed to force 11 of Carlmont’s 15 turnovers in the first half, and kept 5-foot-11 post Colleen Garrett practically ineffective early on in the game.
Vanessa Farias led with a game-high 18 points and guard Elena Fata added 17 points behind three 3-pointers for San Benito, which will now open the NorCal Championships tonight, Tuesday, at Mattson Gym in Hollister.
“Coming into this tournament, I knew we had a great chance to get to this game … The way we did it is what I’m overwhelmed by,” said coach David Kaplansky, noting the fact that his Lady ‘Balers led nearly all game and withstood Carlmont’s offensive runs in the second half. “We weren’t even in this tournament last year, but when we needed a clutch play in the fourth quarter, we found a way.”
While only trailing for less than three minutes of the contest, San Benito carried a slim 35-29 lead to the fourth quarter, a lead that was 12 at halftime. But at the start of the final period, the Lady ‘Balers struggled as the Scots opened on a 6-2 run.
Carlmont’s Garrett, who was held to just seven points through the first three quarters, began to get into the mix as well. Garrett, who scored 26 points on North Salinas in the CCS semifinals, hit a jumper in the paint to bring San Benito’s lead to just 39-37 with 3:46 remaining.
But the Scots went quiet from there on out.
Playing as if they were the defending champs, San Benito refused to give up the lead, and after Ademek sunk a jumper in the paint and Farias hit a pair of free throws, Fata nailed a 3-pointer from the corner that practically sealed the game, as it gave San Benito a nine-point lead with a little over one minute remaining.
Kaplansky, noting the box-and-one defense on Vanessa Farias, set up Fata in the corner to wait for a kick out pass.
After the game, Kaplansky called Fata’s shot the “dagger.”
“Those were the shots we needed,” Kaplansky said. “They executed like a CCS championship team.”
While smiles were most certainly present after Fata’s clutch trey, the real celebration didn’t commence until after the following possession.
Carlmont’s Emily Richard missed on a desperation jumper with less than a minute left, and Bri Romero collected the rebound and went the length of the court, only to dish around a leaping Garrett to a wide-open Farias.
“It’s a play that we do all the time,” Farias said. “We kind of just read each other.”
At that point, despite some 44 seconds remaining in the game, even Fata couldn’t help but put a single index finger in the air, noting the team’s No. 1 standing.
“Once we get on a roll, man, we get momentum,” Fata said. “We knew we were gonna have it after that.”
The win earned San Benito a 4-seed for the NorCal Championships. They’ll host C.K. McClatchy (22-10) of Sacramento on Tuesday at Mattson Gym. Tip-off is at 7 p.m.
Team 1 2 3 4 F
SB 11 15 9 19 54
CRM 8 6 15 14 43
SB (54) – Ademek 4-10 0-0 8, Farias 6-14 6-6 18, Fata 4-13 6-10 17, Halstead 1-2 0-0 2, Romero 3-7 1-2 7, Russell 1-5 0-1 2.
Three-point goals: Fata 3.
CRM (43) – Doyle 1-2 0-0 2, Burrell 4-10 0-1 8, Cresci 3-6 1-3 7, Goeser 4-8 3-4 11, Garrett 6-13 3-4 15.
Three-point goals: None.
