Hollister’s Kyle Sharp goes off for a game-high 39 points but
the Vikings outplay the Balers on the boards for the 75-68 win.
Salinas – The San Benito High boys basketball team’s win streak was halted at eight games after a 75-68 loss on the road to North Salinas on Wednesday, bringing the Balers’ record to 1-1 in the Tri-County Athletic league and 16-3 overall.
It was a game that saw the Vikings (2-0 TCAL, 12-7 overall) use their size and athleticism to control the glass, get second opportunities and make good decisions with the basketball, even when the Balers were fighting their hardest to get the game turned around in their favor.
“The difference in the game was offensive rebounding,” said Hollister head coach David Kaplansky. “They did a good job of attacking the glass and we didn’t do a good job of boxing them out. We emphasized all week in practice that they get the majority of their baskets off the offensive glass and I didn’t think we did a very good job tonight of putting bodies on guys.”
North Salinas used the first two and a half minutes of the game to build a 6-0 lead as Hollister couldn’t seem to get off a good shot against the Vikings’ defense. Kyle Sharp, who finished the contest with a game-high 39 points, got the Balers on the board with a three-point play after being fouled on his way to the hole.
Late in the first, the Vikings were out to a 13-7 lead when guard Jeff Perijil picked off a San Benito pass and took it all the way to the other end of the floor for an easy layup, forcing the Haybalers to use a time-out and regroup, down 15-7.
Ian Whiteley drilled a 10-foot jumper as soon as play resumed and the shot seemed to spark the Balers. Shortly after, Sharp got an easy score off a sweet pass from Eric Davis. On San Benito’s next possession, Davis got up in the air to rebound a John Crepeau miss, putting it back in before his feet hit the ground. The Vikings turned the ball over on their ensuing trip down the floor and Sharp made them pay with another basket just before the end of the half, to bring the Balers to within three at 19-16.
Sharp converted on a tough shot to start the second but North Salinas’ Rodney Ferolino answered with a three-point play of his own. Sharp, not to be outdone with his team so close to the lead, answered back with the game’s next four points to give the Balers their first lead of the game at 23-22. The two teams battled back and forth for the lead the rest of the quarter and, at the end of the first half, the Vikings had the edge with the score at 31-30.
San Benito got a healthy dose of Eric Petty in the second half. Petty, who was matched up against Sharp for most of the game, managed only 11 points in the first two quarters of play exploded in the third and fourth not only with ability to score, but with his play on the boards as he again and again came away with his teammates missed shots to create second chances.
Down 51-40 to start the final quarter, Hollister came out firing from underneath. Sharp was fighting hard for position against Petty and was able to
make some things happen and then, later in the quarter, Danny Isaacson’s jumper started to fall and the Balers soon climbed back to within six at 61-55. But Petty and Ferolino proved to be too much down the stretch and Petty’s two-handed jam with 1:10 to go in the contest put the Vikings up 71-60 and effectively put the game away.
“(North Salinas) got way too many second opportunities tonight,” Kaplansky said. “But I was proud of my team’s effort tonight. North Salinas came out with a big run in the first quarter but the kids battled back and made it a game till the end. North Salinas played a good game, I thought we played a good game. But when you give up offensive rebounds like that and you can’t make parameter shots, it’s tough to win basketball games.”
Note: The Balers’ junior varsity squad fell to the Vikings 42-34 on Wednesday. Hollister’s leading scorer was Todd Janisch with 11 points.