San Benito’s 62-22 win over Everett Alvarez, coupled with North
Salinas’ 52-43 loss at Gilroy, gives the Lady ‘Balers their first
league championship since the 2000-01 season
Salinas
The San Benito girls basketball team clinched the Tri-County Athletic League title Tuesday night, one year removed from a 5-7 league season.
It’s San Benito’s first TCAL championship, and their first league crown since the 2000-01 Lady ‘Balers earned the Monterey Bay Athletic League title.
After the first-place Lady ‘Balers defeated host Everett Alvarez Tuesday 62-22 to improve to 10-0 in the TCAL, San Benito’s league rival, the Gilroy Mustangs, beat North Salinas 52-43 in Gilroy.
It’s North Salinas’ third loss of the season, thereby eliminating them from the top spot in the league, as San Benito only has two games remaining.
As a result of their league championship, the Lady ‘Balers also earn an automatic berth in the Central Coast Section playoffs, slated to begin on Feb. 19.
With two games remaining in the regular season, though, San Benito will be given a chance to rest up before the postseason.
They’ll also have the chance to work on any area of their game that may need tweaking, but after Tuesday’s 40-point win over the Eagles, that may be easier said than done.
“Our passing game was excellent,” coach David Kaplansky said. “It was our best passing game of the season. I really challenged them to get people involved.”
While holding Everett Alvarez to single-digit point totals for each of four quarters, San Benito had 10 different scorers Tuesday, with post-player Lauren Ademek pouring in a season-high 20 points.
Vanessa Farias had 17 for the Lady ‘Balers – all in the first half – and hit three of San Benito’s five 3-pointers.
“That opens up the post play, and we took advantage of that the entire second and third quarter,” said Kaplansky of San Benito’s shooting from behind the arc. “It was just a good job of getting everyone involved tonight.”
San Benito played a half-court man defense through the entire first half, and took a 38-12 lead to halftime.
“We had a lot of transition baskets,” Kaplansky said.
The Lady ‘Balers held the Eagles to just six points in the third quarter and four in the fourth to cruise to the easy victory.
San Benito swept the season series against Everett Alvarez, as they defeated the Eagles 56-14 on Jan. 16.
With TCAL title in hand, the San Benito Lady ‘Balers will host a rather special Senior Night on Thursday at Mattson Gym.
San Benito (19-4 overall) will play Alisal at 7 p.m., in Hollister, in what will be the home finale for the Lady ‘Balers.
Team 1 2 3 4 F
SB 14 24 16 8 62
EA 6 6 6 4 22
SB (62) – O’Brien 0 1 0 3, Fata 2 0 0 4, Farias 4 3 0 17, Russell 0 0 1 1, Casalegno 1 1 0 5, Soza 1 0 0 2, Guerrero 2 0 1 5, Ademek 10 0 0 20, Romero 1 0 1 3, Aguilera 1 0 0 2.
JV Note:
The San Benito junior varsity girls basketball team shared a similar result as their varsity counterparts Tuesday, as they defeated Everett Alvarez 60-27 in Salinas.
“Alvarez came out a lot stronger since the last time,” coach Karen Fortino said. “They were a much improved team, but like I said, we had an explosive second quarter.”
After taking a 10-8 lead in the first quarter, San Benito outscored the Eagles 22-4 in the second period and held a 32-12 halftime lead.
Melisah Cortez had a game-high 15 points to lead San Benito, while Arielle Rianda had nine points and a block. Erin Porteur and Cassie Pate each added six points apiece.
“Everybody scored on our team,” Fortino said.
San Benito will host Alisal Thursday night at Mattson Gym. Tip-off is at 5:30 p.m.
Team 1 2 3 4 F
SB 10 22 11 17 60
EA 8 4 3 12 27
