Top-seeded Berkeley beats San Benito 50-38 Thursday in the
regional semifinals of the NorCal Championships
Berkeley
The ride ended in Berkeley.
The San Benito girls basketball team, which rewrote the basketball history books in Hollister on more than one occasion this season, fell to top-seeded Berkeley High 50-38 Thursday in the regional semifinals of the CIF Northern California Basketball Championships.
“It was a very good season,” said Kelsey Russell, who had 10 points in the game. “It’s never been done before, so we’re pretty excited. But then again, we want to keep going. We’re just proud of ourselves for making it this far.”
In only their second NorCal game ever, the Lady ‘Balers couldn’t quite keep pace with Berkeley, which has finished runner-up in the state championship game two years in a row.
In fact, their home gym was decorated with five NorCal banners as well as two state banners for girls basketball.
But this season, an opponents experience never seemed to cloud San Benito’s vision.
In what was a microcosm of the year – and a glimpse as to how, exactly, San Benito turned an eight-win season from last year into a top-four finish in all of Northern California – took place in the fourth quarter.
After being held to just a pair of field goals in the second and third periods, the Lady ‘Balers entered the fourth quarter down 42-24.
And they never let up.
Finding their shot with six minutes to play, San Benito went on a 10-2 run, and held Berkeley scoreless for more than three minutes.
Berkeley kept their starters in the entire game, and even implemented a full-court press for all 32 minutes of the contest.
Late in the fourth, though, the Lady ‘Balers began to find their shot.
“The character of this team, we just kept chipping away and chipping away. We never gave up,” coach David Kaplansky said. “They could have packed it up, but they kept playing until the time ran out.”
San Benito trailed by as many as 20 points in the game, and even trailed by that amount with six minutes to play, but Vanessa Farias’ 3-pointer sparked the Lady ‘Balers until the finish.
Farias scored 10 of her team-high 14 points in the final stanza.
“That’s what these girls are all about,” Kaplansky said. “We did everything we could. There was no quit in this team.”
San Benito had difficulty penetrating Berkeley’s paint presence early on in the first quarter, but after cutting Berkeley’s lead to five points, the Yellowjackets finished the quarter with four crucial points that pushed their lead to 21-12.
“It kind of took the momentum,” Russell said.
The two teams exchanged baskets in the second, with Berkeley going to the half with a 33-22 lead. San Benito only made one field goal in the quarter, but kept pace with 8 of 11 shooting from the line.
It was the third quarter, however, where Berkeley distanced themselves as they outscored San Benito 9-2, setting up the fourth period.
“Those girls are big, and they can jump too,” said guard Elena Fata, who had seven points. “We gave it our all. They were beating us by 18 to 20 (points), and we gave them a game at the end. We went out strong.”
San Benito finishes their season 24-6 overall. Berkeley (29-3) will advance to the NorCal Championship Saturday at ARCO Arena to battle the winner of Kennedy and Castlemont.
“It was a tough loss,” said Megan Halstead, “but we’ve accomplished so much that we’re proud of our ourselves.”
Team 1 2 3 4 F
SB 12 10 2 14 38
BRK 21 12 9 8 50
SB (38) – Aguilera 1-5 0-1 2, Casalegno 0-2 1-2 1, Farias 6-17 1-2 14, Fata 1-10 5-6 7, Guerrero 1-1 0-0 2, O’Brien 1-1 0-0 2, Russell 2-3 6-6 10.
Three-point goals: Farias 1.
BRK (50) – Morgan 1-4 0-0 2, Rosen 4-15 0-2 9, Culberson 3-7 3-5 9, Wallace 0-3 1-2 1, Perkins 5-18 3-4 13, Warren 0-9 1-4 1, Hamasaki 6-10 1-3 15.
Three-point goals: Rosen 1, Hamasaki 2.
