Alvarez connects on 10 3-pointers Tuesday in 69-53 TCAL victory
at Hollister’s Mattson Gym; ‘Balers fall to 0-1 in league
HOLLISTER
Everett Alvarez’ Preston Juarez may have earned his wings in Tuesday’s Tri-County Athletic League opener at Mattson Gym.
The senior wing with the hot hand was 6 of 12 from the field – with all six baskets coming from long distance – as the Eagles simply soared from behind the 3-point arc Tuesday, connecting on 10 treys total en route to a 69-53 league-opening victory over San Benito in Hollister.
Juarez finished with 18 points.
“They did a whole bunch right,” San Benito head coach John Becerra said. “I thought we controlled [Juarez] in the first half. But in the second half, he just came out and fired off.
“They shot extremely well, and we didn’t do too much offensively against their zone (defense) inside.”
If it weren’t for the 30 points off 3-pointers Alvarez made, many of which were contested shots, it would have been a far different outcome. But the Eagles, now 1-0 in the TCAL and 13-1 overall, simply heated up as the game progressed, while Juarez’ long-distance stroke proved to be contagious.
Eagle point guard Sergio Lopez, who showcased a fast first step, led all scorers with 19 points.
And he too dropped a pair from 3-point range.
“We couldn’t stop them man-to-man, and [Lopez] was driving right down the middle,” Becerra said. “He was breaking us down. We started running the zone, and it kind of worked for a little bit. But they settled down and started bombing it.”
San Benito’s Tyler Rickard scored 17 points, 10 of which came in the first quarter, and the sophomore guard kept the Haybalers up early on.
In fact, San Benito jumped out to a 13-5 lead in the first four minutes of regulation, but the Eagles hit four 3-pointers to close out the first quarter and cut the deficit to 21-19 after one period.
It was the second and third quarters where Alvarez did their damage, however, as they outscored the ‘Balers 32-15 in those two periods alone.
“We’ve hardly played any zone teams,” Becerra said, “and we were pretty rusty.”
San Benito had a chance to reclaim the lead midway through the third quarter when Alvarez, which committed 25 turnovers in the game, was held scoreless for nearly four minutes. But although the ‘Balers came to within five points following a Kyle Vallejo jumper, they started a scoreless streak of their own that lasted approximately six minutes and stretched midway into the fourth quarter.
By that point, the Eagles had built a commanding 25-point lead, the largest deficit of the game.
“It was partly they shot well, and we did not execute,” Becerra said. “Once they went to the zone (defense), it kind of shut us down.”
The ‘Balers made it interesting in the waning minutes of regulation when they forced eight Eagle turnovers and went on a 15-2 run that lasted just two and a half minutes, but it was too little, too late.
“We just need to execute a lot better,” Becerra said. “We need to be smoother with the ball offensively.”
Dominic Zanella had 10 points for San Benito, which falls to 0-1 in the TCAL, 8-7 overall. Cooper Sepulveda, who was playing just his second varsity game after being called up from the junior varsity, had nine points.
The ‘Balers will travel to North Salinas next Tuesday for a date with the Vikings. Tip-off is at 7 p.m.
Notes:
San Benito shot 41 percent (23 of 56) from the field, 5 of 8 from the free throw line … The ‘Balers committed 18 turnovers … Alvarez shot 47 percent (26 of 55) from the field, 7 of 8 from the line … Eagle Sergio Lopez scored 11 of his 19 points in the first quarter … The Ealges have won five straight games.
TEAM 1 2 3 4 F
EA 19 13 19 18 69
SB 21 6 9 17 53
Everett Alvarez (69) – D. Flores 1-4 4-4 7, G. Flores 2-7 0-0 4, J. Gomez 1-1 0-0 3, P. Juarez 6-12 0-0 18, S. Lopez 8-11 1-2 19, T. Reid 1-2 0-0 2, E. Rodriguez 4-10 0-0 8, J. Rufino 1-4 2-2 4, W. Welch 2-2 0-0 4.
Three-point goals: D. Flores 1, J. Gomez 1, P. Juarez 6, S. Lopez 2.
San Benito (53) – J. Hunt 1-4 0-0 2, J. Canchola 0-2 2-3 2, Corral 0-2 1-2 1, C. Sepulveda 4-9 1-1 9, T. Rickard 7-12 1-2 17, T. Von Urff 3-3 0-0 6, K. Vallejo 3-7 0-0 6, D. Zanella 5-12 0-0 10.
Three-point goals: T. Rickard 2.
