Balers take on Vikings
Make no mistake about it, Monday night’s San Benito-North
Salinas girls’ basketball battle will carry plenty of weight in the
Tri-County Athletic League.
The Lady Balers and Vikings are without a doubt the favorites
this year to win the TCAL
– with Gilroy, Salinas and perhaps Notre Dame playing sleepers,
in that order –and Monday’s match at Mattson is sure to be a
barnburner.
Balers take on Vikings
Make no mistake about it, Monday night’s San Benito-North Salinas girls’ basketball battle will carry plenty of weight in the Tri-County Athletic League.
The Lady Balers and Vikings are without a doubt the favorites this year to win the TCAL – with Gilroy, Salinas and perhaps Notre Dame playing sleepers, in that order –and Monday’s match at Mattson is sure to be a barnburner.
“This is gonna dictate how the league flows,” San Benito head coach David Kaplansky said. “And we’ve got to take advantage of playing at home to get off to a good start.”
San Benito and North Salinas split their two league contests last season, with Hollister earning a 54-36 win in the opener and the Vikes returning the favor later in the season with a 51-47 triumph.
That first win over North High may have set the tone for the remainder of the league season, however. The Lady Balers won their first 11 games in league last year, only falling to the Vikings in the regular season finale.
While the loss prevented Hollister from going undefeated, it certainly had no affect on the team earning the TCAL crown.
“The fact that we have an early opportunity against them, we’ve really got to compete,” said Kaplansky, adding that his team had a great week of practice. “The girls know what it takes to win.”
The two teams never saw one another in the Central Coast Section playoffs last season, and that will remain true this season as well after North Salinas was placed into Division II due to enrollment.
But in the TCAL, the Vikings are still very much a threat.
Although they may not fall within D-I enrollment standards anymore, North Salinas did return the majority of last season’s 19-8 team – including 11 from last year’s 14-man roster.
The biggest name North High lost was Cindy Cano, who was selected to the All-Defensive Team as a guard. But the Vikes return Bina Abbott and Edthel Lugo, a scoring duo that currently figure 1-2, respectively, for North Salinas this season.
Consider the Vikings, which played rough and tough defense last year and went 9-3 in the TCAL, didn’t have a single scorer average more than 10 points a game last season. This year already they have two in Abbott (11.75 ppg) and Lugo (11.59 ppg).
With impressive wins over Stevenson (61-46), Santa Teresa (60-54) and Piedmont Hills (39-34) this year, North High is exactly the type of team San Benito has been preparing for through the preseason.
“Their (basketball) IQ is getting better and that’s what I wanted to accomplish this preseason,” Kaplansky said of his Lady Balers, which boast a 9-3 record at press time.
And the timing couldn’t be better for San Benito, which is coming off a string of impressive victories of its own.
At the Dons Club Holiday Tournament in Del Mar last week, for instance, San Benito cruised by Prospect of Saratoga 50-24, then nearly ran Evergreen Valley off the court in a convincing 66-37 championship win.
Both teams were ranked in the CCS top 25, according to maxpreps.com, and neither team stood a chance against the Lady Balers.
North Salinas, also a CCS top-25 team, will bring a certain rivalry edge to Monday’s match, though, and will punctuate an early-season battle that is sure to weigh heavily in the TCAL.
“The girls are confident. They’re working hard. They’re communicating. I feel like this is a great team to open up with at home,” Kaplansky said. “But we have a lot of respect for North Salinas. They match up well with us.
“It should be a great game.”
Tip-off is at 7 p.m.
In addition, on Saturday, San Benito will play in the Coaches v. Cancer shootout, a tournament fund-raiser for the Jimmy V Foundation. The Lady Balers will square off against Bradshaw Christian High of Sacramento in a 4:30 p.m., game at West Campus High School in Sacramento.
Bradshaw Christian was the Sac-Joaquin Section’s Division V champ last year, and lost to St. Francis Central Coast Catholic 55-46 in the first round of Nor-Cals.
The headlining game, which will follow San Benito’s match-up, will pit Bishop O’Dowd against Sacramento High.
