San Benito defeats Sacramento school 41-29 on Saturday, will
return to TCAL play tonight at home to North Salinas
SACRAMENTO
Megan Halstead scored 14, Vanessa Farias had 13 and the San Benito girls basketball team pulled out its “gutsiest win” of the season on Saturday when it defeated Bradshaw Christian 41-29 at the Coaches v. Cancer shootout in Sacramento.
The Lady ‘Balers, now 11-3 overall, will return to Tri-County Athletic League play tonight, Monday, when it hosts rival North Salinas at Hollister’s Mattson Gym.
Tip-off is at 7 p.m.
Saturday’s win, though, which was San Benito’s seventh straight, came against the private Sacramento school that was not only a Division V Nor-Cal qualifier last year, but also champions of the Sac-Joaquin Section.
Bradshaw Christian (10-3 overall) was led by 6-foot-1 junior Cheyenne Williams, who is averaging 21.5 points, 16.4 rebounds, 5.4 blocks and 3.9 steals per game this season. But San Benito managed to showcase yet another strong performance on defense, making a first-quarter adjustment that carried them to the 12-point victory.
“We found out after the first quarter that everything was gonna go through her,” San Benito head coach David Kaplansky said of Williams. “It was a good game for us to go into league with.”
After the ‘Balers were outscored 11-9 in the opening period, with five of those points coming from Williams alone, San Benito upped the pressure in the paint and on the wings and slowed down Bradshaw’s attack.
The Pride, for the remaining three quarters, was held to just six points each period.
“We were letting [Williams] catch it,” Kaplansky said. “So we extended the pressure to the wings and made it difficult on the entry.
“And (Lauren) Ademek was able to get some steals.”
The Lady ‘Balers pulled away in the second and fourth quarters when they outscored the Pride by a 26-12 margin.
“It was a physical basketball game. They were a really aggressive team,” Kaplansky said. “We had to find a way to win.”
TEAM 1 2 3 4 F
SB 9 12 6 14 41
BC 11 6 6 6 29
San Benito (41) – Farias 1 3 2-3 13, Halstead 4 0 6-8 14, Russell 0 0 1-2 1, Ademek 2 0 1-2 5, Casalegno 0 0 2-3 2, Guerrero 2 0 0-0 4, Glasspool 1 0 0-0 2.
