It was another strong season for Hollister girls basketball. The year was filled with fierce competition, exciting victories and some painful losses. The Balers were again at or near the top of the league and excelled in the Central Coast Section playoffs.
Led by athletic guards, a strong front line and a fierce defense, coach Mitch Burley’s Balers finished 16-10 overall, and 10-4 for third place in the Pacific Coast Athletic League, Gabilan Division.
Hollister was led on the perimeter by the talented duo of junior Jadah Gonzalez and sophomore Diana Martinez Ruiz. Up front, Madelyn Davis, Carlie Rowen, Dani Orsetti and Elliotte Sparling produced points, rebounds and defense. Depth contributions came from Jordyn Gonzalez, Lily Doty, Juliana Brackensick, Kaliyah Cea and Isabelle Rodriguez.
“Our defense is good enough to win,” said coach Burley, after a late-season victory. “It’s simple but it works. The effort is always there. We have to work on our offensive consistency.”
Davis received her second straight First-Team All-League award. Gonzalez was named to the Second Team. Martinez Ruiz was deserving of similar recognition though fell a bit short in the voting.
“We’ve had a pretty good season,” said Davis, after the Balers drilled Stevenson 48-23 on Jan. 30. “We play good at home. We play good defense. Offensively, we have a couple plays. We pass and screen for open shots. We get it into the middle and we are trying to shoot more threes.”
The Balers were 5-2 on the back half of the league round robin. Victories came by margins of 25, 17, 35, 26 and 27, as the team jelled. The fierce defense allowed 37 or less in six of the games.
“Depending on the other team, we will press full court man-to-man,” Martinez Ruiz said. “On defense, we often do a 1-2-2 zone. We have a strong team and we are really united.”
Alisal won the league, with Salinas a step back. Hollister was close, in third. Soledad, Watsonville and Stevenson were four games behind the Balers. Pacific Grove and Monterey were further down.
“We have good movement of the ball,” Gonzalez said. “And we get a lot of steals. As a team, we work well together.”
The campaign marked the fifth straight post-Covid season in the league’s top three. During that run, the Balers have recorded an 85-38 mark, 48-12 in league play. They have competed in the CCS playoffs in all five seasons, racking up a 4-5 record. Going back further, Hollister has now reached the playoffs 12 straight years, back to the spring of 2015.
The 2025-26 pre-season was a bit of a roller coaster. After dropping three straight to begin the year, Hollister rolled to five victories in a row. That surge included three wins and the championship in the Santa Clara Tournament.
The victories were 42-23 over Westmont, 45-32 against Watsonville and 38-30 against Sobrato. The Balers also excelled in wins over Christopher 51-36 and Evergreen Valley 57-48.
On the path into league play, Hollister fell twice. However, those challenges were against powerful opponents Los Gatos and Carlmont, with the defeats coming by only nine and six points respectively.
In PCAL Gabilan competition, Hollister began by ripping Soledad 65-46, Stevenson 67-35, Watsonville 55-40 and Monterey 49-24. They lost at Salinas 58-57 in overtime, dumped Pacific Grove 37-26 and fell at powerful Alisal by only 61-56.
The second turn through league play began with an upset loss down at Soledad, 40-36. Hollister regrouped and bounced Stevenson 48-23, Watsonville 60-43 and Monterey 56-21 before heading into a grudge match with the rival Cowboys.
The Balers won big and the second half was Hollister’s high mark of the season and to a fair extent, the best 16 minutes of basketball over many years.
The Balers trailed 22-18 at halftime and then demolished their rival. HHS outscored Salinas 20-8 in the third quarter to pull ahead by eight and then continued their excellent play. The final period was a 23-5 Baler joyride.
The 43-13 second half stood as one of the best halves ever against a tough competitor and the 61-35 final stood as one of Salinas’ most one-sided defeats in league play in a long time.
Hollister closed the regular season with a 27-point win at PG and a loss to Alisal. Next came the playoffs.
In CCS Division I competition, the Balers beat Santa Teresa 75-40 on Feb. 20 in Hollister. Gonzalez scored 22 points and Davis added 13. The Balers led 17-8 after one quarter, 31-23 at halftime and then blew the game open with a third-period offensive explosion. In that stanza, Hollister scored 26 points, while allowing only 13.
The second-round game at Fremont of Sunnyvale was a defensive struggle. Hollister trailed throughout but rallied late. The Balers whittled down a seven-point deficit as Martinez Ruiz sank a bucket and Davis drained a crucial triple, but the rally fell short as a buzzer attempt missed.
The final analysis showed another excellent season. The Balers starred in demolishing Salinas and with a 35-point playoff win. Although hopes to go further in the CCS post-season were dashed by Fremont, the program’s legacy as a powerhouse continues.
