Lady ‘Balers earn first-ever trip to CCS finals
– first ever for Hollister basketball – after 58-42 win against
Piedmont Hills
“Making history,” said San Benito guard Elena Fata. “Just keep making history.”
On Wednesday, the No. 2 San Benito Lady ‘Balers made history by becoming the first Hollister basketball team to qualify for the Central Coast Section championship after they easily defeated No. 6 Piedmont Hills 58-42 at Milpitas High School.
Not only does the history-making win push San Benito toward tonight’s final against top-seeded Carlmont, but it also qualifies them for the NorCal Championships beginning next week.
“It feels amazing to set the bar,” said Vanessa Farias, who scored a game-high 21 points against Piedmont Hills. The Pirates could not right their ship, or stop Farias early on, for that matter, as San Benito’s leading scorer had 18 points in the first half behind five 3-pointers.
When asked to describe the win, Farias said, “It’s a whole different level.”
Coach David Kaplansky prepared his team for a Piedmont Hills squad that used speed, quickness and the 3-point shot to upset No. 3 Evergreen Valley 58-41 in the quartefinals on Saturday.
But Bri Romero, who had six points Wednesday, said the Pirates didn’t do any of that.
“A lot of the stuff we thought they were going to do, they didn’t do,” she said.
Perhaps the reason for that was because San Benito didn’t allow it. The Lady ‘Balers implemented a full-court man defense at the start of the game, and although it wasn’t pressure-heavy, it did slow the Pirates down and allowed San Benito to control the tempo.
“We allow our defense to dictate the offense … for all four quarters,” Kaplansky said. “We’ve been playing all four quarters in each and every one of these games. We made their best players work for buckets, and we make each possession challenging …”
While Piedmont Hills did manage to hit 39 percent (16 of 41) of their field goals, they committed 20 turnovers, seven in the first quarter.
And San Benito capitalized early, using the high amount of turnovers to create high-percentage shots. Farias scored 12 in the opening stanza, including three treys, to push the ‘Balers out to an 18-9 lead.
“It’s all about stopping the other team first,” Romero said. “Stopping them, shutting them down, and that is when we start picking up the offense.”
San Benito increased their lead to 11 in the second quarter behind a pair of blocks from Victoria Aguilera, and took a comfortable 46-29 lead to the fourth.
During one possession in the third, Farias was double-teamed down low, but kicked the ball out to Fata who nailed her second 3-pointer of the game. Fata finished with 16 points behind 4 of 8 shooting from the field and 7 of 8 shooting at the line.
The Lady ‘Balers led by as many as 18 at one point in the third, but Piedmont Hills managed to cut it to 10 after starting the fourth quarter on a 9-2 run.
Ten points, however, was as close as the Pirates would get.
“When we don’t put a lot of pressure on the ball and when we get complacent … we’re an average team,” Kaplansky said of the fourth period. “When we dictate the tempo, that’s when we’re at our best.”
Lauren Ademek delivered seven points for San Benito and Kelsey Russell added six. Megan Halstead had a basket to round out San Benito’s scorers.
The Lady ‘Balers shot 43 percent (20 of 47) from the field, 73 percent (11 of 15) at the line, and committed only eight turnovers.
Tonight, Friday, San Benito (22-5) will play Carlmont (21-6) at San Jose State University for the CCS Division I championship. The Scots defeated No. 4 North Salinas 58-56 in overtime on Wednesday.
Tip-off is at 6:30 p.m.
Team 1 2 3 4 F
SB 18 14 14 12 58
PH 9 12 8 13 42
SB (58) – Ademek 3-5 1-2 7, Farias 7-19 2-4 21, Fata 4-8 6-7 16, Halstead 1-4 0-0 2, Romero 3-6 0-0 6, Russell 2-4 2-2 6.
Three-point goals: Farias 5, Fata 2.
