Behind nearly 20 turnovers and offensive struggles, the San Benito boys basketball season came to a sudden end Saturday in the quarterfinals of the Central Coast Section playoffs against Carlmont.
The Scots used a strong second quarter to pull ahead of the Balers and hold on to a 42-31 upset victory over the No. 2 seeded Balers.
After a strong couple opening minutes, the San Benito offense failed to find any offensive rhythm and struggled to find open shots. It was the first time all year the Balers didn’t hit a 3-point shot.
“We just never got into an offensive rhythm,” SBHS head coach David Kaplansky said. “Similar to last year’s semifinal game. They did a good job guarding the 3-point line. They made it difficult to get the shots we’ve gotten in the past. Credit them on their defense.”
He continued: “Bottom line is we never got into an offensive rhythm and that hurt us tonight. We just made some mistakes with the ball and allowed too many offensive rebounds. We just didn’t have anybody to put it in the basket tonight. That’s how basketball goes. I thought we defended our tail off. We took them out of everything they wanted to do. We just couldn’t score the ball tonight.”
It was struggles in the second and third quarters that doomed the Balers.
San Benito could only muster four points in the second, as Carlmont stormed ahead with the lead, something they would never relent.
“We came out sleeping,” senior Jacob Tonascia said. “They already got to play two games this week. They are riding momentum. It’s hard to play after a week off but we should have played a lot better than that. It was just like when we played Piedmont Hills last year.”
In the third quarter, the Baler offense finally showed up. Behind eight points from Jacob Tonascia, who finished with a team-high eight points, the Balers pulled to within one at 26-25. But afterward it was all Carlmont.
At the time, San Benito seemed to seize the momentum. But after a Carlmont timeout – which came as the Balers were stealing the ball – the Scots quickly pulled away.
“I don’t know,” Tonascia said. “They just picked it up again. We couldn’t match their intensity.”
As the Scots offense started to roll, the Balers never found a consistent scorer.
“Their defense pushed us back,” SBHS senior Michael Breen said. “We weren’t mentally ready today. We were excited to play but we couldn’t find a groove on offense and they took us out of everything. They worked really hard so all the credit goes to them.”
The loss finishes the Balers’ Monterey Bay League championship season with a 21-4 record. After the great year, it was a rough and quick end for the Balers.
“I wasn’t expecting anything less than reaching the finals,” Breen said. “That was my goal the whole time. It’s very crushing. It’s kind of demoralizing. It’s going to sting for a while. We are going to get over it but it will sting for a while.”
But it shouldn’t ruin a tremendous season, Kaplansky said.
“This was one game,” he said. “Unfortunately, it was the last game of the year. These guys have been phenomenal all season long. They are character guys. They are guys that work hard. This is a team that I’ll never forget. It is tough to say good-bye to a bunch of guys that you love being with and competing with. Today is a tough day for all of us but this is something that we are real proud of.”
The Scots advance to play Santa Teresa, who beat Sequoia 56-50, on Wednesday at Santa Clara High.
SBHS girls basketball
The No. 6 seeded Balers advanced to Wednesday’s semifinals Saturday, beating No. 3 North Salinas 56-42 at Hartnell College.
The Balers will play No. 7 Evergreen Valley on Wednesday.
SBHS girls soccer
The Balers fell to Los Gatos 2-0 Saturday in the CCS quarterfinals Saturday at Milpitas. They finish 12-4-4 on the season.
