With five different scorers hitting double digits, San Benito
downs Everett Alvarez 77-10 on Wednesday night
SALINAS
Fresh off their convincing 66-37 victory over Evergreen Valley at the Dons Club Holiday Tournament last week, the San Benito High girls basketball team opened up the Tri-County Athletic League on Wednesday with another dominating win when they defeated Everett Alvarez 77-10 in Salinas.
Vanessa Farias led all scorers with 13 points, while four other Haybalers contributed double-digit point totals, including Vanessa Casalegno (12 points), Megan Halstead (12), Lauren Ademek (11) and Victoria Aguilera (11).
“A lot of girls contributed,” San Benito head coach David Kaplansky said. “We’re trying to get our game more balanced and that’s something we’ve done the last couple of games.”
But aside from the impressive offensive outputs, it’s San Benito’s defense that continues to shine.
“We’re just playing awesome defense,” Kaplansky said.
The Lady ‘Balers ran a full-court press in the first quarter, and jumped out to a 28-5 lead after the first period as a result.
San Benito played in a half-court defense for the remainder of the game, but still held the Eagles to just five points through the final three quarters of regulation.
The Lady ‘Balers held a 42-6 lead at halftime and were up by a 66-10 margin through three quarters. Alvarez was held scoreless in the fourth quarter – the third time San Benito had held a team scoreless in a single quarter this season.
It’s also the third time the Lady ‘Balers have limited an opponent to 10 points or fewer this season.
San Benito is now 1-0 in the TCAL, 10-3 overall.
The Lady ‘Balers will head north to Sacramento’s West Campus High School Saturday for the Coaches v. Cancer shootout, a tournament fund-raiser for the Jimmy V Foundation.
San Benito will square off at 4:30 p.m., against Bradshaw Christian (10-2), which won the Sac-Joaquin Section’s Division V championship last season.
Bradshaw Christian lost to St. Francis Central Coast Catholic 55-46 at Nor-Cals last year.
San Benito will return to league play on Monday for their highly anticipated match-up against North Salinas at Hollister’s Mattson Gym. Tip-off is at 7 p.m.
TEAM 1 2 3 4 F
SB 28 14 24 11 77
EA 5 1 4 0 10
San Benito (77) – E. Glasspool 1 0 0-0 2, V. Farias 1 3 2-2 13, K. Russell 2 0 2-2 6, V. Casalegno 3 2 0-1 12, N. Rianda 1 0 0-0 2, M. Halstead 6 0 0-0 12, M. Vallejo 0 1 0-3 3, L. Ademek 5 0 1-2 11, J. Guerrero 2 0 1-2 5, V. Aguilera 5 0 1-1 11.
JV Note:
The San Benito girls junior varsity basketball team also opened up the Tri-County Athletic League with a convincing rout Wednesday when they defeated host Everett Alvarez 61-23 in Salinas.
San Benito’s Kim Warner dropped 19 points on the Eagles, while teammate Michelle Fortino added 13 and Melisah Cortez supplied 10.
Emi Miskin, who returned to the Lady ‘Baler lineup after being held out for a month with a finger injury, had nine points in her first game back.
“A very disciplined game tonight,” San Benito head coach Karen Fortino said. “We came out and executed a pretty good game – very good team play from everyone.”
Jessica Steigelman and Cyrena Salinas each added four points apiece for San Benito, which improves to 1-0 in the TCAL, 11-1 overall.
“Good rebounding, good passing, good assists,” Fortino said, “and sometimes that creates offense.”
The Lady ‘Balers will return to league play on Monday night to host North Salinas at Mattson Gym in Hollister. Tip-off is at 5:30 p.m.
