Defending Division I champion Bellarmine Prep jumped out to a
13-0 lead at the start and never looked back against the San Benito
boys basketball team on Thursday night, as the Bells cruised to a
68-40 victory in the semifinal round of the Independence Fukishima
Invitational in San Jose.
SAN JOSE
Defending Division I champion Bellarmine Prep jumped out to a 13-0 lead at the start and never looked back against the San Benito boys basketball team on Thursday night, as the Bells cruised to a 68-40 victory in the semifinal round of the Independence Fukishima Invitational in San Jose.
Bellarmine, which defeated Salinas 65-36 in the D-I final last season, controlled Thursday’s match-up with the Balers from the start, garnering a 19-4 first-quarter lead.
“We were overwhelmed,” San Benito head coach Tracy Carpenter said. “It got away from us in a hurry.”
San Benito managed to settle in for the remainder of the game, depositing 12 points each in the second, third and fourth quarters.
“We settled in a little bit, but it was too late,” Carpenter said. “We didn’t get back on defense and that was the No. 1 thing. They got lay-up after lay-up.
“They were big and athletic.”
The Bells (6-0) held leads of 36-16 at halftime and 49-28 through three quarters.
Eric Elayda led the Balers with nine points, while Kyle Vallejo added eight and Tyler Rickard contributed six.
Carpenter was pleased with the effort from Rickard, who added three assists in the game.
“He got six points, which doesn’t show how effective he was,” the head coach added. “He controlled things when he was in there and he really competed defensively.”
The loss snaps a three-game winning streak for the Balers, who fall to 3-2 overall this season.
“But it’s a good learning experience,” Carpenter said. “I’m happy we were able to play the defending CCS champs.
“The lesson is we’ve got to play well at the start of the game. But it does give us a benchmark. It shows us what we have to do.”
San Benito will look to rebound on Friday when it will play Mission High of San Francisco, which is coming off a 68-67 loss to Oak Grove.
“Another really talented team,” Carpenter said of the Bears.
The two teams will tip-off at 6 p.m., at Independence High in San Jose.
TEAM 1 2 3 4 F
SANB 4 12 12 12 40
BELL 19 17 13 19 68
San Benito (40) — J. Belton 0 0 0-4 0, K. Vallejo 4 0 0-0 8, T. Rickard 1 0 4-4 6, C. Sepulveda 2 0 0-0 4, E. Elayda 4 0 1-2 9, D. Wingo 2 0 0-0 4, E. Olbring 2 0 0-0 4, I Corral 0 0 1-2 1, B. Mendoza 2 0 0-1 4.
