Behind 21 points from Victoria Aguilera and 14 from Erin
Glasspool on Saturday, not to mention a well-executed defensive
game plan that held the Sacramento powerhouse to 12 points in the
first half, San Benito pocketed its biggest win of the season when
it earned the Wildcatz Invitational championship, and ended El
Camino’s seven-year reign.
WATSONVILLE
Just how big was San Benito’s 46-42 victory over Sacramento’s El Camino High on Saturday in the championship game of the Wildcatz Invitational in Watsonville?
“This is big, big, big,” head coach David Kaplansky exclaimed.
It was big.
Opting to play some of the top-level teams in Northern California the last three years during their non-conference slate, the Lady Balers have always been close against opponents like Oakland Tech, Northgate of Walnut Creek and Miramonte of Orinda, but hadn’t been able to pull out the victory.
But behind 21 points from Victoria Aguilera and 14 from Erin Glasspool on Saturday, not to mention a well-executed defensive game plan that held the Sacramento powerhouse to 12 points in the first half, San Benito pocketed its biggest win of the season when it earned the Wildcatz Invitational championship, and ended El Camino’s seven-year reign.
“It was an amazing game,” Kaplansky said. “They won this tournament seven years in a row.”
And after defeating Harbor 68-21 and Watsonville 71-34 in the first two rounds, El Camino (5-1) appeared to be the favorite to win an eighth straight tournament championship.
But the Eagles, who went 21-8 last season, had difficulty penetrating San Benito’s zone defense in the third quarter, and fell behind by 13 points as a result.
“That really slowed them down and they started rushing their shots,” Kaplansky said. “We were able to run off their perimeter shots … and we took advantage by picking up our pace.”
The zone was a stark contrast to the beginning of the game, when the Lady Balers pressed in the first half and stayed in a man defense, leading to a 7-6 lead after one quarter and a 19-12 lead at halftime.
But the switch to zone some five minutes into the second half pushed San Benito’s lead to double digits.
“The girls executed the game plan early,” Kaplansky said. “They were living on penetration early … penetration and getting out on the fast break. We wanted to jam the rebounds and not allow them to run.”
With about 3:30 remaining in the quarter, however, point guard Erin Glasspool picked up her fourth foul and was forced to sit. El Camino, which pressured San Benito the whole game, went on a 13-0 run at the tail end of the third quarter, turning the Lady Balers’ double-digit cushion into just a 31-29 lead heading into the final period.
“It was intense,” Kaplansky said.
El Camino even knotted the game at 31-all to open the fourth, setting off a back-and-forth eight minutes.
“They were able to keep the game close,” Kaplansky said. “Back-and-forth all the way to the end.”
But when Glasspool finally fouled out with 1:30 remaining in the game, Vanessa Casalegno filled in at the point guard spot “and pushed the ball through their defense,” Kaplansky said.
Aguilera then managed to seal the victory late with a 2 of 3 performance from the free throw line, supplying the Lady Balers with a four-point win.
The senior post player was named Most Valuable Player of the tournament. She led San Benito with a team-high 18 points against Pajaro Valley (69-14 W) and a team-high 22 points against Monte Vista Christian (48-20 W) to open the tournament, while the Lady Balers garnered a total of four all-tournament selections out of a possible eight, as Glasspool, Casalegno and Nicole Rianda were also honored.
“Nicole Rianda played her best game of the year,” said Kaplansky, who also highlighted the play of Casalegno. “She was very physical, got a lot of loose balls and defended El Camino’s bigs.”
It was the Eagles’ first loss of the season.
San Benito, meanwhile, remains perfect on the season at 5-0. The Lady Balers will enter the Alisal Winter Jam on Thursday in Salinas, where they are scheduled to open against Atwater’s Buhach Colony.
Tip-off is 5 p.m.
TEAM 1 2 3 4 F
SB 7 12 12 15 46
EC 6 6 17 13 42
San Benito (46) — V. Aguilera 8 1 2-3 21, V. Casalegno 1 0 2-6 4, E. Glasspool 2 3 1-2 14, N. Rianda 2 0 0-0 4, M. Vallejo 0 0 1-2 1, C. Salinas 0 0 1-2 1, M. Cortez 0 0 1-2 1.
