Before the season started, San Benito High girls basketball coach Mitch Burley said Adriana Ibarra could light it up from the outside.
On Wednesday, Ibarra made her coach look prophetic. Ibarra, who last year made a verbal commitment to play softball at San Jose State, drilled four consecutive 3-pointers in one sizzling stretch in the first half in leading the Haybalers to a 54-25 win over host Gilroy.
“They were in that zone and it changed everything,” Burley said. “When Adriana hit all those 3s, it kind of won the battle of that zone. It was a zone-buster.”
Ibarra finished with a team-high 12 points, Denise Martinez had 10 and Jessica Bueno nine, all coming on 3-pointers in the fourth quarter. Burley inserted Ibarra into the game midway through the first quarter, and on the team’s ensuing possession, she drained a trey.
“I looked pretty smart putting her in I guess,” Burley said laughing. “That’s what good players do—they make coaches look good.”
San Benito was 12-4 overall and 3-1 in Monterey Bay League Gabilan Division play entering Thursday’s key contest against Monte Vista Christian (13-3, 3-1).
“I’m looking forward to that MVC game because they’re also 3-1 in league and they lost to (first place) North Salinas by 15 points, just like we did,” Burley said. “Defensively, I think we need to apply a little more pressure and force some turnovers, so we’ll look forward to trying to do that against MVC.”
The Balers and Mustangs (7-10, 0-5) exchanged leads early on and were tied 6-6 when Ibarra came off the bench and broke the game open. Ibarra hit her first 3-pointer and Martinez added a basket, giving the Balers an 11-6 lead they would never relinquish.
Gilroy gave San Benito extra opportunities as it turned the ball over 18 times. Anjelica Collins added to the Mustangs’ troubles with five steals.
San Benito hammered Gilroy with layup after layup, forcing it out of the press defense and into man-to-man coverage.
Defensively, San Benito made things difficult crowding the basket, which cut off the Mustangs’ rebounding opportunities while shutting down their shooting lanes.
“I give it to Hollister, they played solid defense and got the turnovers,” Gilroy coach Mitchell Pierce said. “I think that we’ll do ourselves a favor by making better passes and better decisions.”
After opening up league play with a loss to defending league champion North Salinas, the Balers have reeled off three straight entering Thursday’s game, including a 48-46 victory over a tough Christopher squad.
San Benito drained seven of eight free throws in the final 2 ½ minutes to seal the outcome.
“This is where I thought we would be at this point in the season,” Burley said. “I thought we would have a good season, and we’re right where everyone expected us to be. We’re a good team and hoping to improve on that.”
