Cooper Sepulveda had 12 points, Eric Elayda added 11
— including three 3-pointers — and the San Benito Haybalers
opened up Tri-County Athletic League play with a 48-42 victory over
Everett Alvarez on Thursday night at the Salinas Boys and Girls
Club.
SALINAS
Cooper Sepulveda had 12 points, Eric Elayda added 11 — including three 3-pointers — and the San Benito Haybalers opened up Tri-County Athletic League play with a 48-42 victory over Everett Alvarez on Thursday night at the Salinas Boys and Girls Club.
Devin Wingo had six points off the bench, as well as a team-high 12 rebounds.
“We kind of gutted it out,” San Benito head coach Tracy Carpenter said. “We found a way.”
After outscoring Alvarez 15-8 in the second quarter to take a 27-19 lead at halftime, San Benito couldn’t hold the edge as the Eagles managed to cut the deficit to one point going into the final period.
“They made a little run at us,” said Carpenter, whose Balers led by just two points with three minutes remaining in regulation. “But we held them off.”
Sepulveda made three of four free throws down the stretch to seal the win for San Benito, which improves to 1-0 in the TCAL, 9-4 overall.
“Defensively, we did a pretty good job,” Carpenter said. “Offensively, it’s still a bit of a struggle.”
The Balers were 20 of 51 from the field, or 39 percent, but made 4 of 10 from behind the arc.
Meanwhile on the defensive end, San Benito held Alvarez’s leading scorer, Jordan Gomez, who was averaging 20.33 points per game, to 11 on Thursday night. Furthermore, the Eagles’ 42-point output was well off their season average of 61 points per game.
“A good defensive effort,” Carpenter said.
Alvarez is now 0-1 in the TCAL, 9-4 overall.
San Benito will host North Salinas (0-1 TCAL, 3-10) on Wednesday at 7 p.m.
TEAM 1 2 3 4 F
SB 12 15 10 13 48
EA 11 8 17 6 42
San Benito (48): J. Belton 2 0 0-2 4, K. Vallejo 2 0 0-0 4, T. Rickard 1 0 2-2 4, C. Sepulveda 3 1 3-6 12, E. Elayda 0 3 2-2 11, D. Wingo 2 0 2-2 6, E. Olbring 2 0 0-0 4, I. Corral 1 0 1-2 3.
