San Benito beats Prospect 45-29 Tuesday night, and will square
off against Evergreen Valley in the championship final of the Dons
Club Holiday Tournament tonight, Wednesday night, at Del Mar High
School at 6 p.m.
CAMPBELL
Jumping out to an 11-0 lead at the start and a 28-8 lead at halftime, the San Benito girls basketball team advanced to the championship final Tuesday night when they defeated Prospect of Saratoga 45-29 in the semifinal round of the Dons Club Holiday Tournament in Campbell.
Vanessa Farias paced the Lady ‘Balers with 21 points, including five 3-pointers. Both Kelsey Russell and Vanessa Casalegno each contributed eight points apiece.
San Benito, which had a goal coming into the tournament to be playing in the championship, earned that chance with three straight wins over Branham (64-9) last Friday, Westmont (50-24) on Saturday and now Prospect.
The Lady ‘Balers (8-3) will face off against Evergreen Valley (5-3) in the championship on Wednesday night at 6 p.m., at Del Mar High School in Campbell.
Evergreen Valley defeated Salinas 60-48 in the semifinals on Tuesday night, and are considered to be one of the top teams in the Central Coast Section this year.
“This will be a great opportunity to see where we are with one of the top teams in Division I,” San Benito head coach David Kaplansky said.
As for the Lady ‘Balers, they kept Prospect at bay all game, and even carried a 40-17 lead into the fourth quarter.
San Benito held Prospect to just two field goals in the first half, while Jennifer Jasper, Prospect’s 6-foot-1 senior center who Kaplansky called “the best big man in the tournament,” was kept in check all game.
Although Jaspar did lead the Panthers with 14 points, she was held to just four points – all free throws – through the first three quarters of the game.
“We did a great job on defense again,” Kaplansky said. “We made it difficult for them to get the ball past half court.
“The defense was the difference of the game.”
TEAM 1 2 3 4 F
PROS 2 6 9 12 29
SANB 13 15 12 3 45
San Benito (45) – Farias 2 5 2-2 21, Halstead 2 0 0-0 4, Russell 2 0 4-6 8, Aguilera 1 0 0-0 2, Casalegno 4 0 0-2 8, N. Rianda 1 0 0-0 2.
