San Benito defeats Everett Alvarez 67-21 Friday in Hollister
HOLLISTER
Homecoming may have served as a slight distraction, but not much.
Despite leading by a narrow two-point margin after one complete quarter, the San Benito Lady ‘Balers simply took over the rest of the game and picked apart a visiting and winless Everett Alvarez team en route to a dominating 67-21 rout on Friday night in Hollister.
Vanessa Farias led all scorers with 14 points – all in the first half – and paced the San Benito squad to their 13th straight victory of the season.
Everyone scored for the Lady ‘Balers, which improved to 7-0 in the Tri-County Athletic League and 17-3 overall.
Alvarez falls to 0-7 in the TCAL.
Kelsey Russell had nine points Friday, while teammates Lauren Ademek and Megan Halstead each contributed eight. Jennifer Guerrero, Cassie Pate and Mari Vallejo scored five points apiece in the tune-up win.
San Benito will have a bye on Tuesday before they visit North Salinas next Friday.
Homecoming festivities served as the backdrop to Friday’s game, though, and it may have led to a slow start from the Lady ‘Balers.
“There was a lot going on at the beginning of the game,” San Benito head coach David Kaplansky said. “We had a different lineup out there. We had a delay during warm-ups and we came out in a zone (defense).
“We did a couple of different things at the beginning of the game. But I felt once that first quarter was over, we got into our rhythm.”
San Benito led 15-13 after the first period, but held Alvarez to just eight points for the remainder of the game. The Lady ‘Balers, meanwhile, blew the game open with 52 points over the final three quarters.
The Eagles shot a very respectable 40 percent (10 of 25) from the field but they couldn’t stave off San Benito’s swarming defense, which caused 40 turnovers in the game and led to 32 more shots for the home team.
“I thought the girls did a good job pressuring the basketball,” Kaplansky said. “I thought we executed our zone defense very well in the fourth quarter.”
The Lady ‘Balers shot 44 percent (25 of 57) from the field and 14 of 22 from the line.
Kaplansky emptied the bench midway through the second quarter.
“It was nice to see everyone score, everyone get in the book,” Kaplansky said.
San Benito will travel to North Salinas next Friday to battle the Vikings.
TEAM 1 2 3 4 F
EA 13 2 4 2 21
SB 15 19 23 10 67
San Benito (67): K. Russell 3-8 3-6 9, L. Ademek 4-7 0-0 8, V. Aguilera 2-7 0-0 4, M. Halstead 3-3 2-2 8, V. Casalegno 1-4 0-0 3, V. Farias 4-14 4-4 14, E. Glasspool 1-5 0-0 2, N. Rianda 2-2 0-0 4, J. Guerrero 2-2 1-2 5, C. Pate 1-1 3-6 5, M. Vallejo 2-4 1-2 5.
Three-point goals: V. Casalegno 1, V. Farias 2.
JV NOTE:
Post players Kim Warner and Jessica Steigleman scored 13 points and 12 points, respectively, and the San Benito High girls junior varsity basketball team downed visiting Everett Alvarez 56-15 Friday night at Hollister’s Mattson Gym.
The Lady ‘Balers, which were coming off a 42-41 loss at Salinas, improve to 15-3 overall, 5-2 in the Tri-County Athletic League.
“A good game for us tonight,” San Benito head coach Karen Fortino said. “We used this to practice executing plays. We played zone defense and tried to get some girls in some different positions so we can be a little more versatile as the season goes on and we finish off the year.”
Stressing a tough zone, while also boxing out and scoring put-back points, San Benito easily jumped over the Eagles, outscoring the Salinas school 21-2 in the first quarter and 33-6 at halftime.
Jackie Echaorre and Michelle Fortino scored nine points apiece, while Melisah Cortez had seven.
“These girls seem to get better and better each and every time we play,” Fortino said.
The head coach also highlighted the play of freshman Hannah Blake, who had two assists Friday.
“She improves every single day in practice and every game is getting a good understanding of the ‘Baler program,” Fortino said. “Tonight, she created some things for the other girls.”
The Lady ‘Balers will be off Tuesday but will visit North Salinas on Friday at 5:30 p.m.
TEAM 1 2 3 4 F
EA 2 4 7 2 15
SB 21 12 10 13 56
