Showing the disparity among teams within the Tri-County Athletic
League this season, the San Benito girls’ basketball team defeated
host Notre Dame by a comfortable 64-41 margin on Thursday night to
pull into a virtual tie with the Spirits in the league standings.
Both teams are now 5-4 in the TCAL, although San Benito has won
both contests this season, while Notre Dame has yet to play both
Gilroy and North Salinas
— the top two teams in the league.
SALINAS
Showing the disparity among teams within the Tri-County Athletic League this season, the San Benito girls’ basketball team defeated host Notre Dame by a comfortable 64-41 margin on Thursday night to pull into a virtual tie with the Spirits in the league standings.
Both teams are now 5-4 in the TCAL, although San Benito has won both contests this season, while Notre Dame has yet to play both Gilroy and North Salinas — the top two teams in the league.
The win, meanwhile, snaps a two-game skid for the Balers, who opened up the offense behind 16 points from Nicole Rianda on Thursday night.
Rianda has been on point lately, dropping 18 against North Salinas last week and 21 against Gilroy on Tuesday. The senior post player’s 16 points on Thursday included three 3-pointers.
San Benito head coach David Kaplansky said Rianda’s presence around the perimeter helped spread out the Baler attack, which aided in San Benito’s 16-8 cushion at the end of the first quarter and 36-14 lead at halftime.
“The offense was fantastic. We came out at the start of the game just scoring,” Kaplansky said. “We were running the same sets we’ve been running all year. But they went in this time.”
San Benito received 11 points from Erin Glasspool and 10 points apiece from both Kelsey Robledo and Mari Vallejo.
“She did a good job of attacking the basket, and that really opened up the offense,” Kaplansky said of Vallejo’s double-digit effort. “Our confidence was high because the kids were making shots.”
Although they were outscored 18-12 in the final period, the Balers entered the fourth quarter with a sizable 52-23 lead. San Benito is now 13-8 overall.
With three games remaining in the regular season, the Balers will kick off their stretch run at Alisal on Tuesday night at 7 p.m. San Benito previously defeated the Trojans by a 49-17 margin on Jan. 13.
TEAM 1 2 3 4 F
SANB 16 20 16 12 64
NDAM 8 6 9 18 41
San Benito (64): E. Glasspool 2 2 1-2 11, C. Salinas 2 1 0-0 7, M. Vallejo 5 0 0-0 10, S. Puentes 0 0 2-3 2, K. Robledo 5 0 0-0 10, N. Rianda 2 3 3-4 16, E. Burley 1 0 0-0 2, T. Haynish 1 0 0-0 2, J. Echaorre 0 1 0-0 3, O. Diaz 0 0 1-2 1.
