San Benito’s strong second half downs visiting Trojans 63-41
Friday night
HOLLISTER
The San Benito Lady ‘Balers continued to roll through Tri-County Athletic League play on Friday night. Led by 15 points from Vanessa Farias, 13 points from Megan Halstead and 12 points from Kelsey Russell, San Benito posted another double-digit victory when it dropped visiting Alisal 63-41 at Hollister’s Mattson Gym.
Halstead connected on six field goals, Farias hit 7 of 9 from the free throw line and the defensive stalwart Russell had another strong offensive showing.
“She’s playing really confident the last two games and that’s really helping our balance, our scoring,” San Benito head coach David Kaplansky said of Russell, who dropped 11 points on Notre Dame Wednesday.
The victory over Alisal on Friday, though, was San Benito’s 11th straight win, and puts them at 5-0 in the TCAL, 15-3 overall.
Despite what a 23-point margin of victory might suggest, however, the Lady ‘Balers only led 16-12 after one quarter and 28-21 at halftime.
“The first half we were real flat offensively … We were OK,” Kaplansky said. “But defensively, we weren’t really rotating well and they were getting into the paint too easily.
“But in the third quarter we held them to five points and that really set the tone for the rest of the game.”
Outscoring the Trojans 15-5 in the third period, San Benito took a 43-26 lead to the final stanza.
“We were able to penetrate and that led to transition buckets,” Kaplansky said.
Victoria Aguilera had nine points for San Benito.
Kaplansky noted the play of point guard Erin Glasspool, who although did not score on Friday, foiled Alisal’s press.
“She did a good job handling the pressure,” Kaplansky said. “She did a good jog getting us organized.”
The Lady ‘Balers will look to make it 12 in a row Wednesday when they visit Salinas. Tip-off is at 7 p.m.
TEAM 1 2 3 4 F
ALIS 12 9 5 15 41
SANB 16 12 15 20 63
San Benito (63) – V. Farias 4 0 7-9 15, K. Russell 5 0 2-2 12, V. Casalegno 2 0 1-2 5, N. Rianda 1 0 2-2 4, M. Halstead 6 0 1-4 13, L. Ademek 2 0 0-0 4, J. Guerrero 0 0 1-2 1, V. Aguilera 4 0 1-2 9.
JV Note:
The San Benito junior varsity girls basketball team shut visiting Alisal out in the third quarter Friday en route to a 42-17 victory at Hollister’s Mattson Gym.
“That is awesome,” San Benito head coach Karen Fortino said of the goose egg her team forced in the third period. “That is unbelievable.”
Jessica Steigleman led the Lady ‘Balers with 11 points, Kim Warner had nine and Michelle Fortino contributed eight in the win, which improves San Benito to 14-2 overall and 4-1 in the Tri-County Athletic League.
“They broke the press very well,” Fortino said. “The girls did an awesome job and I’m very happy.”
After Amanda Byron’s double-double in the previous game against Notre Dame – she had 10 points and 10 rebounds – Fortino placed her into the starting lineup.
Although she got into foul trouble, Byron pulled down six rebounds, three offensive.
“She did very well, rebounding wise,” Fortino said. “Everything helps, getting a turnover, getting an assist. And everybody played a good supporting role.”
Alisal played close to San Benito early on, trailing 13-8 after one quarter. But the Lady ‘Balers blew the game open in the second and third quarters when they outscored the Trojans 20-2.
San Benito will play next at Salinas on Wednesday night. Tip-off is at 5:30 p.m.
TEAM 1 2 3 4 F
ALIS 8 2 0 7 17
SANB 13 11 9 9 42
