Nicole Rianda scored 18 of San Benito’s final 21 points,
including the game-tying 3-pointer at the end of regulation, but
the host Vikings still managed to outlast the Balers by a 37-34
margin in overtime Thursday night.
SALINAS
It was deja vu all over again for the Balers. But the postgame vibe was a bit more hopeful.
“It kind of feels like last year’s semifinal game,” said San Benito post player Nicole Rianda, referring to the heartbreaking defeat the Balers suffered against North Salinas in the Division I playoffs last year.
“Just one shot away,” she added. “It just hurts that we lost.”
But while last year’s 25-24 loss to the Vikings ended San Benito’s season — and was far more agonizing, considering the situation — Thursday night’s 37-34 overtime defeat at North High had at least a different aftertaste, perhaps aided by the fact that San Benito’s season isn’t over just yet.
Costly turnovers, poor free-throw shooting and, at times, an offense that had difficulty making baskets all contributed to Thursday’s overtime loss for the Baler girls.
“It’s all stuff we can fix,” Rianda said.
But battling from behind — with an on-fire Rianda exploding for a game-high 18 points in the second half, as well as hitting the game-tying 3-pointer at the end of regulation — San Benito (4-3 TCAL, 12-7) was also a far more feisty team on Thursday night, and one that didn’t at all resemble the squad that played North Salinas (6-1 TCAL, 10-5) on Jan. 4.
“It was a great game. We lost by several points the last time we played them,” San Benito head coach David Kaplansky said, referring to the 48-25 loss to the Vikings from earlier this year. “It’s the toughest place in the league to play and we played a great game, a wonderful game.”
It was still a difficult one to swallow, though, especially considering the impressive performance by Rianda, who electrified the Balers when they absolutely needed it.
Following a go-ahead 3-pointer by Amy Woo with 30 seconds remaining in the game — on an in-bounds play that left Woo wide open in the corner — San Benito came out of a timeout with a set play for Rianda, a set play that had the Baler center hoisting a 3-point attempt from just left of the key.
And why not? After missing her first 11 shots, the senior post finished the game 8 of 12 from the field, and scored 18 of San Benito’s final 21 points in the game.
“We usually run that play for our guards,” Kaplansky said.
It was the Baler big who made it this time, though, and with just six seconds left on the clock. The improbable trey — although Rianda’s second of the fourth quarter — knotted the two teams at 32-all.
“That last shot over (Julia) Ashen was pretty lucky,” Rianda said afterward. “I kind of hurled that one. But I just knew we needed it. I did everything I could.”
With nearly all of her made baskets coming from out near the arc, Rianda showed off her driving ability in the extra period when she beat Ashen baseline for a lay-up, staking San Benito to an early 34-32 lead.
But North High’s paint presence on the offensive end, which was part of the problem for the Balers in their earlier loss to the Vikings, flexed its collective muscle in the final three minutes.
Sara Makanani converted a basket in the paint to tie the game at 34 with 3:01 remaining, while Ashen made 1 of 2 free throws with 1:08 left to supply the Vikings with a one-point edge.
Following a Baler miss, North High then scored another basket in the painted area when Mekayla Dacpano banked one in from just underneath the basket — her first field goal of the game — with 22 seconds left to give the Vikes a 37-34 lead.
San Benito’s last-ditch 3-point attempt, unlike the one to end regulation, fell short.
“There’s a few things we need to clean up on possessions,” said senior guard Erin Glasspool, who finished with five points Thursday. “We need to get a shot off first, but also a good shot.”
Good shots — or any shot, for that matter — were few and far between in the first half for both teams. The Balers led 6-2 after the first quarter, 13-10 at halftime, and limited the Vikings to a 2 of 15 performance from the field in the first half.
In fact, North High didn’t make a 2-point basket until 2:55 remaining in the second quarter, but managed to survive with its own brand of defense, as well as a 6 of 8 showing at the free-throw line.
“All I know is that if you throw up so many, some of them have got to go in,” North Salinas head coach Darren Jackson said after the game. “We started making them at the right time, and our defense kept us in the game.”
Limiting the Balers to just 5 of 20 shooting from the field in the first half, North Salinas erased the three-point halftime deficit when it opened the third quarter on an 10-0 run to grab a 20-13 lead.
The Balers didn’t end the streak until 1:50 left in the third quarter when Rianda nailed her first basket of the game — a jumper from the key that sparked her ensuing onslaught.
“All week she has been doing that in practice. She was good in those pop-screen situations,” Kaplansky said, later adding, “She really had a great finish to end the game.”
Try 12 of San Benito’s 14 fourth-quarter points.
Rianda scored seven straight to supply the Balers with a 29-25 lead at the 1:01 mark, but a disappointing finish marred an impressive comeback for San Benito. North High tied it at 29 with 33 seconds remaining, while the Balers turned the ball over on the ensuing in-bounds, setting up Woo’s go-ahead 3-pointer.
The game eventually went to overtime, of course, but San Benito had its chances.
“Free throws,” Kaplansky said. The Balers were 3 of 10 from the stripe in the game. “We make one more free throw and we win this game.”
Turnovers didn’t help much, either. Although San Benito won the takeaway battle, 20-13, its turnovers seemed to be magnified, like Woo’s steal at the very end of the third quarter that transitioned into a fastbreak lay-up with five seconds left, and gave the Vikes a 22-18 edge entering the final period.
She and teammate Tiana Osborne tied for a team-high 10 points.
“Important possessions. We need to take care of the ball more carefully,” Glasspool said. “We did a good job on defense, like we always do. I think we should have won it.”
They may just get another chance. Jackson feels the two teams will meet up again in the Central Coast Section playoffs, just like they did last season. Although after Thursday night’s game — the “game of the year” — he’s not looking forward to seeing the Balers again, he said.
“Last year was really, really hard. It was our last game,” Glasspool said of the playoff loss to North High. “Losing to them now, we still have a chance to get second place (in the TCAL). And who knows, maybe we’ll see them in CCS again.”
TEAM 1 2 3 4 OT F
SANB 6 7 5 14 2 34
NSAL 2 8 12 10 5 37
San Benito (34): E. Burley 1-3 0-0 2, J. Echaorre 0-2 0-0 0, E. Glasspool 2-3 0-0 5, N. Rianda 8-23 0-2 18, K. Robledo 2-6 0-0 4, C. Salinas 1-8 3-7 5, M. Vallejo 0-4 0-1 0.
Three-point goals: E. Glasspool 1, N. Rianda 2.
North Salinas (37): T. Osborne 2-5 6-8 10, M. Dacpano 1-7 1-2 3, A. Woo 4-14 1-2 10, J. Ashen 2-6 3-4 7, S. Makanani 3-9 1-3 7.
Three-point goals: A. Woo 1.
