San Benito’s final regular season home game against Everett
Alvarez Wednesday night never got terribly interesting. A
double-digit lead was quickly accomplished by the Balers early in
the second quarter, an 18-point cushion was reached by halftime,
and San Benito cruised in the second half en route to a 69-48
victory.
HOLLISTER
Tracy Carpenter isn’t planning on using a 16-man rotation in the playoffs. But for one quarter, one night — Senior Night — the Balers found a way to make it work.
“We played all 16 guys in the first quarter and held them to four points,” the San Benito boys’ basketball coach said. “I was really pleased with that.”
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Carpenter then paused before joking, “Should have done that the whole night.”
San Benito’s final regular season home game against Everett Alvarez Wednesday night never got terribly interesting. A double-digit lead was quickly accomplished by the Balers early in the second quarter, an 18-point cushion was reached by halftime, and San Benito cruised in the second half en route to a 69-48 victory.
But the tone, especially defensively, was immediately set by the Balers in the first quarter, which saw five seniors start and the team’s sixth senior to be the first off the bench.
Carpenter then emptied the bench with five-man substitutions, giving each and every member a chance for some playing time. Although not usually a formula for success in basketball, the 16-man rotation provided enough of a consistent presence on defense, as Alvarez was held to just four points in the first quarter on 2 of 17 shooting.
It also went scoreless for an eight-minute period at the end of the first quarter and into the start of the second, at which point the Balers opened up a comfortable 19-6 lead they never relinquished.
Alvarez’s William Camel led all scorers with 17 points.
Ten players found the box score for San Benito, though, with Cooper Sepulveda delivering a team-high 12 points. Eric Elayda (5 assists), Jeremy Canchola and Ryan Di Salvo each added eight points, while both Hyram Miskin and Daniel Gutierrez had seven points for the Balers.
Tyler Rickard had four points, seven rebounds and four steals.
Ironically, San Benito ended its regular season the same way it started it — not only with a win, but by also draining 12 3-pointers.
Canchola, Sepulveda, Elayda, Gutierrez and Miskin each had a pair of 3-pointers in the game Wednesday, while Jordan Belton and Michael Breen had one apiece, with Breen’s trey beating the buzzer at the end of the first quarter to stake San Benito to a 10-4 lead.
The Balers, in fact, made more 3-pointers than they did 2-pointers on Wednesday, shooting 12 of 31 from behind the arc and 11 of 29 from inside of it.
“I’ve never seen that before,” Carpenter said.
The Balers sunk 12 3’s in their season opener against Gonzales on Nov. 29, which was, of course, followed by six straight losses to open the season. San Benito is 13-4 since that losing streak, though.
Wednesday’s win was the Balers’ sixth victory in their last seven games, and it wraps up sole possession of second place for the team — its best finish since the 2007-08 team.
San Benito has a bye on Friday, meaning its next opponent will come in the Central Coast Section Division I Championships next week. Seedings and matchups for the postseason will be announced this weekend.
Notes:
San Benito shot 41 percent (23 of 56) from the field, 61 percent (11 of 18) from the line, and committed 15 turnovers … Alvarez shot 28 percent (17 of 60) from the field, 65 percent (13 of 20) from the line, and committed 16 turnovers.
TEAM 1 2 3 4 F
EA 4 11 15 18 48
SB 10 23 10 26 69
Everett Alvarez (48): A. Reyes 1-5 0-2 2, W. Camel 6-14 5-6 17, M. Gomez 2-9 3-4 7, A. Jimenez 2-6 0-0 4, M. Turner 1-10 2-2 5, A. Fernandez 1-5 0-0 2, J. Hilario 1-2 0-0 2, A. Sanchez 2-5 0-1 4, M. Wood 1-3 3-5 5, R. Turner 0-1 0-0 0.
Three-point goals: M. Turner 1.
San Benito (69): J. Belton 1-5 2-2 5, B. Becerra 0-2 0-0 0, I. Acfalle 0-1 0-0 0, J. Canchola 2-4 2-3 8, C. Sepulveda 5-9 0-0 12, E. Elayda 3-13 0-0 8, T. Rickard 2-5 0-3 4, L. Haro 0-1 0-0 0, D. Gutierrez 2-3 1-2 7, R. Di Salvo 2-2 4-4 8, J. Tonascia 2-3 1-2 5, H. Miskin 2-5 1-2 7, M. Breen 2-2 0-0 5, M. Silva 0-1 0-0 0.
Three-point goals: J. Belton 1, J. Canchola 2, C. Sepulveda 2, E. Elayda 2, D. Gutierrez 2, H. Miskin 2, M. Breen 1.
