For the second straight game, a slow start turned into a strong
finish for the San Benito girls basketball team as they defeated
Monte Vista Christian 48-20 on Thursday night to open the
Watsonville Wildcatz Invitational.
WATSONVILLE
For the second straight game, a slow start turned into a strong finish for the San Benito girls basketball team as they defeated Monte Vista Christian 48-20 on Thursday night to open the Watsonville Wildcatz Invitational.
Held to just 13 first-half points, and leading by a narrow 13-9 margin at the break, San Benito exploded for 35 points in the second half en route to its 28-point victory.
“We just couldn’t buy a bucket,” San Benito head coach David Kaplansky said of the first half. “It was the same thing as last game.”
The Lady Balers were held to single-digit point totals in the first half against North Monterey County on Tuesday before posting 34 on the Condors in third and fourth quarters.
“We weren’t focused on making the shot,” Kaplansky said. “We were just taking the shot.”
But while the offense didn’t kick in until after the break, the defense kept Monte Vista Christian — and North Monterey County as well — to single digits in each quarter.
“The kids played good in the second half, and played great defense all four quarters,” Kaplansky said. “Vanessa Casalegno did a good job coming off the bench and giving us energy. She had numerous deflections that led to fastbreaks.”
And Kaplansky said Victoria Aguilera set the tone for the Lady Balers in terms of scoring. The senior post player contributed 22 points in the game, including one pick-and-pop 3-pointer.
“We were able to force several turnovers in the second half, which led to fastbreaks,” Kaplansky said.
San Benito’s small four-point halftime lead blossomed into a sizable 30-15 cushion after three quarters as well, while the Lady Balers continued to run away with the game in the final period when they outscored the Mustangs 18-5.
San Benito improves to 3-0, while Monte Vista Christian falls to 2-1.
The Lady Balers will return to the Watsonville Wildcatz Invitational on Friday when they will square off against Pajaro Valley at 6:30 p.m. The winner will advance to Saturday’s championship final at 1 p.m., and will play either Watsonville or Sacramento’s El Camino High.
“We’ve got to play four quarters of basketball,” Kaplansky said. “Right now we’re playing two.
“But that’s what the preseason is all about.”
TEAM 1 2 3 4 F
MVC 6 3 6 5 20
SNB 4 9 17 18 48
San Benito (48) — C. Salinas 0 0 1-2 1, M. Vallejo 2 0 0-0 4, E. Glasspool 3 1 0-0 9, M. Cortez 1 0 0-0 2, C. Pate 1 0 0-0 2, G. Magee 0 0 1-2 1, V. Casalegno 2 0 1-1 5, N. Rianda 1 0 0-0 2, V. Aguilera 8 1 3-4 22.
