The San Benito girls basketball team’s run through the Central Coast Section tournament continued Wednesday, as the Balers advanced to the championship game with a 58-38 victory over Evergreen Valley.
The No. 6 seeded Balers grabbed an early lead and never relinquished it onto a 20 point victory.
Denise Martinez led the Balers with 15 points and Elizabeth Reikowski added 12 points in the victory. Overall six Balers contributed points, including Kim Sparrer off the bench.
With very little knowledge of Evergreen Valley’s style of play, the Balers focused on getting through the Cougars’ full court press. Using Ellie Burley and Anjelica Collins, the Balers wove through the Evergreen Valley defense for easy baskets, SBHS head coach Mitch Burley said.
“We just had to get through the press and we would be all right,” Mitch Burley said. “They handled it great. We got several lay-ups and some easy baskets. That was the difference.”
The teams remained within 10 points of each other until the final quarter, where San Benito started to finally pull away. It was the Balers (16-11) third victory in the CCS playoffs. They will play Gunn (18-6) at 1 p.m. Saturday at Santa Clara High.
“It was a really, really good win,” Mitch Burley said. “The girls played well. And how exciting is this for them.”
