Feeling the pressure as San Benito’s go-to scorer, senior post
player Victoria Aguilera managed to back it up with an MVP season.
She is this year’s Free Lance/Pinnacle’s Most Outstanding Girls
Winter Athlete.
HOLLISTER
The turning point came during the offseason when incoming senior Victoria Aguilera developed a heightened scoring ability, much moreso than her previous season’s 5.46 points-per-game average.
It came in practice during all the open gymnasiums in the summer months, and only carried over into her senior season for the Lady Balers basketball team.
Somewhere along the line, during summer league play that saw an Aguilera-led team go undefeated, last season’s third or fourth option for the Lady Balers quietly developed into the team’s go-to player — one who could post up in the paint while also drawing double and triple teams; a 6-foot shot blocker that often forced opponents into long-range attempts; and even an outside scoring presence that stretched teams out on the defensive end.
The senior post player was all but impossible to contain through every facet, and she was selected not only as the Tri-County Athletic League’s Most Valuable Player as a result, but also the Free Lance/Pinnacle’s Most Outstanding Girls Winter Athlete.
“Victoria is who held our team together,” said San Benito head coach David Kaplansky, whose Lady Balers went 9-3 in the TCAL and 22-5 overall. “Without her, we’re not half as good as we were this year.”
The third-year head coach said he actually challenged Aguilera prior to the season “to play at her highest level” this year. With top scorer Vanessa Farias and post players Megan Halstead and Lauren Adamek having all graduated the year before — a trio that scored nearly 30 points per game for the Lady Balers — San Benito’s starting five was not only rather guard-heavy, but also lacking a dominant scoring threat.
“She had to carry a lot of weight,” Kaplansky said.
And Aguilera felt the pressure.
While the third-year varsity player said she feels the pressure each and every game, no matter what, it’s difficult to discount the physical results. Prior to San Benito’s postseason games against Santa Teresa and North Salinas, Aguilera was in the locker room throwing up.
“It wasn’t crazy, but I did throw up,” she said. “It was the nerves … pressure felt.
“But the pressure is always there, to score, to make sure the team wins. The pressure doesn’t go away.”
Carrying that weight may have played a role in the locker room, but it never seemed to get in Aguilera’s way while on the court.
The senior post averaged 14.78 points per game this season for San Benito — an increase of nearly 10 points per game from her junior season.
She dropped a regular-season high of 20 points against Gilroy on Feb. 9, had a season-high 23 against Mountain View in the semifinals of the Dons Club Holiday Tournament, and scored 21 points against El Camino Fundamental and 19 points against Madera in a pair of tournament championship games.
Aguilera’s 157 field goals, meanwhile, not only led the TCAL, but were also 100 more than her closest teammate.
And when the pressure was building toward the end of the regular season, the Lady Balers in the midst of a three-way battle for first place in the TCAL, Aguilera averaged 16.8 points per game in the team’s final five games.
“She was the biggest part of the team,” point guard Erin Glasspool said. “She always picked us up in games that maybe we weren’t doing so well in. She was a good leader.”
Aguilera’s ability didn’t necessarily revolve around her scoring touch. Glasspool noted her teammate’s presence in the paint, which often drew double and triple teams and often freed up San Benito’s guards around the perimeter in the process.
“It just opened it up for all the shooters,” added Glasspool, who deposited a league-high 62 3-pointers this season.
“I think the most important thing is that Vicky did well with her rebounding,” said Kaplansky, who felt it was Aguilera’s complete skill set that allowed her to have a breakout year. “That gave her a lot of opportunities on put-backs, a lot of opportunities for second chances. She was a lot more aggressive on the block and she drew so much attention.
“She had a good feel for when to attack the basket and for when to kick and find an open shooter.
“But when we needed a basket, we went to her.”
Aguilera plans on taking her services to San Jose City College next year, where she will once again be teamed up with fellow post player Lauren Adamek.
It will be a whole different ball game with completely different pressures. But Aguilera has her senior season to build off of, and it all started with some extra practice.
“I wasn’t doubting myself,” she said. “I had doubts as a younger player and with all the good players we had on our team.
“I knew I had to be patient and practice to be a good player. But I also just had to step up and do it.”
