Although it erased a 14-point deficit, the San Benito boys
basketball team was unable to escape Watsonville with a victory on
Friday night, as the host Wildcatz scored the game-winning basket
with no time remaining in a 64-62 non-league victory.
WATSONVILLE
Although it erased a 14-point deficit, the San Benito boys basketball team was unable to escape Watsonville with a victory on Friday night, as the host Wildcatz scored the game-winning basket with no time remaining in a 64-62 non-league victory.
Trailing by nine points at halftime, the Balers began to mount a comeback in the third and fourth quarters, and eventually tied the game at 62-all when Cooper Sepulveda drained a 3-pointer with eight seconds left in regulation.
But after Watsonville called a timeout, the Wildcatz still had enough time to run one final play. And the last-second effort went through David Torres, whose desperation attempt intially appeared as if the game would be going to overtime.
“We appeared to have him stopped on the last play,” San Benito head coach Tracy Carpenter said. “But [Torres] made a driving, twisting shot from 14 feet that looked like it was impossible to go in. But it did.”
The game-winner vaulted Watsonville ahead 64-62, and dropped the Balers to 1-6 overall on the year.
“We’ve got to figure out a way to win,” Carpenter said regarding the team’s record. “We’ve got to find a way.”
The Balers nearly found a way against Watsonville. Despite trailing 14-12 after one quarter and 33-24 at halftime — it even trailed by as many as 14 points in the game — San Benito chipped away at the nine-point deficit in the second half, cutting Watsonville’s lead to just five entering the final period.
It tied the game in the final seconds, although that result was short-lived.
“We actually played fairly well. We played really well in the second half,” Carpenter said.
Sepulveda, who managed to offiically erase the deficit with his last-minute 3-pointer, finished with a team-high 23 points on Friday night, while teammate Jordan Belton added 12 points for San Benito.
Watsonville’s Lamar Cowans, meanwhile, dropped a game-high 28 points on the Balers.
San Benito will look to snap its six-game losing streak on Monday night when it will host Seaside at 7 p.m. It is the first home game for the Balers since the season opener on Nov. 29.
TEAM 1 2 3 4 F
SANB 12 12 19 19 62
WATS 14 19 15 16 64
San Benito (62): J. Belton 2 1 5-7 12, C. Sepulveda 6 2 5-8 23, E. Elayda 0 0 1-2 1, T. Rickard 3 0 0-0 6, H. Mishkin 3 0 0-0 6, D. Gutierrez 0 1 0-0 3, R. Di Salvo 2 0 0-0 4, J. Tonascia 2 0 1-2 5, R. Henderson 1 0 0-0 2.
