There was supposed to be some sort of a drop-off this season for
the San Benito Lady Balers. Not one that would blanket the season
in
”
rebuilding
”
status, or make a third straight trip to the postseason an
impossible feat, but a drop-off that would at least reflect losing
your top two leading scorers from the year before, as well as the
best defensive player in the Tri-County Athletic League.
But improved play from bigs Victoria Aguilera and Cassie Pate,
and deadly long-range shooting from Erin Glasspool and Cyrena
Salinas
— not to mention its usual pesky, annoying brand of defense —
the Lady Balers haven’t seen much of a drop-off, if one at all,
through their first 13 games of the season.
HOLLISTER
There was supposed to be some sort of a drop-off this season for the San Benito Lady Balers. Not one that would blanket the season in “rebuilding” status, or make a third straight trip to the postseason an impossible feat, but a drop-off that would at least reflect losing your top two leading scorers from the year before, as well as the best defensive player in the Tri-County Athletic League.
But improved play from bigs Victoria Aguilera and Cassie Pate, and deadly long-range shooting from Erin Glasspool and Cyrena Salinas — not to mention its usual pesky, annoying brand of defense — the Lady Balers haven’t seen much of a drop-off, if one at all, through their first 13 games of the season.
San Benito is currently 12-1 — its lone loss coming by a 57-30 margin to Presentation, which at the time was ranked No. 1 in the Central Coast Section by MaxPreps.com.
The loss, however, didn’t carry over. San Benito is currently on a four-game winning streak.
“We’ve overachieved,” San Benito head coach David Kaplansky said. “We’ve played well to win some tournaments, and we’ve won some clean games and we’ve won some ugly games.
“But I feel like they work hard on defense and they do what it takes to win a game. They find ways to win …”
That second gear can often be difficult to learn, but the expectations that have been set — San Benito is 60-12 with two Division I titles under Kaplansky — certainly have provided a blueprint on how to win.
“If our shots are off or we’re a step slow on defense, we find ways to scratch out wins,” Kaplansky said.
Already with impressive victories over El Camino Fundamental (46-42), Madera (58-31) and Prospect (46-39) during their non-conference schedule — three wins that led to three straight tournament championships — the Lady Balers opened TCAL play on Tuesday with an easy 69-25 victory against Everett Alvarez.
On Monday, they’ll visit North Salinas High to clash with the Vikings — the two teams shared the TCAL title one year ago. Tip-off is 7 p.m.
“North Salinas has good depth,” Kaplansky said of the Vikings, who own an 11-2 record overall. The head coach said North High is nine to 10 kids deep and athletic, which explains why no one on the Vikings is averaging in the double digits on offense.
Alyssa Ayala leads the team with 9.23 points per game, while post Jasmin Rowland follows with 6.38.
The TCAL will not be a two-horse race, however. Gilroy, which advanced to the CCS semifinals last season before falling to San Benito, returns everyone of note, including Laura Steele (11 PPG), Lauren Rhodes (10.5 PPG), Chelsea Hill (9 PPG), Lindsay Foster (8 PPG) and Sovi Nou (7.5 PPG).
“Gilroy is humongous,” Kaplansky said of the Mustangs, who are 10-4 under first-year head coach Tim Jones.
The Alisal Trojans, meanwhile, who play tough defense and are known for their home-court advantage, could represent the darkhorse in the TCAL this season.
“I think we’re all different with what we bring athletically and the height — it’s all spread out,” Kaplansky said. “But collectively as a team, we have experience in big games.”
Kaplansky called the win over El Camino “eye opening” for his team, which has adopted an inside-out attack on offense this season — one that continues to pay dividends.
Built around Aguilera, who’s averaging 16.85 points per game and can post up inside or shoot from the perimeter, San Benito forces the opposition into uncomfortable situations, either by an all-at-once press, or from its perimeter-to-paint offense.
“That’s what this team is predicated on,” said Kaplansky, who’s seen improved play from Pate (4.15 PPG), as well as improvement from the starter Glasspool (9.15 PPG) and sixth-man Salinas (4.54 PPG). “But we’re looking for a little more penetration, getting kids to go to the rim.”
The TCAL will ramp up the second time around, when San Benito visits Alvarez on Jan. 28. But the Lady Balers will get their biggest games of the season out of the way early, with a visit to North Salinas on Monday before returning home to face Gilroy on Thursday.
“I think this is a real, hard working team,” Kaplansky said. “We lost some good athletes (last year), some good basketball players. But as a team I feel like we work well together.
“They look for each other. They rely on each other …”
