San Benito routs Division I rival Evergreen Valley 66-37
Wednesday, and claimed the Dons Club Holiday Tournament
championship in Campbell
CAMPBELL
For the San Benito girls basketball program, 2008 was about as good as it gets.
A Tri-County Athletic League title, a Central Coast Section Division I championship and a trip to Nor-Cals all made the short list for the Lady ‘Balers.
But before the year was finished, San Benito went out with a bang and put another exclamation point on 2008.
With an offense highlighted by four players dropping double-digit point totals and a defense that held a high-scoring team to single digits in the first half, the San Benito girls basketball team delivered perhaps its biggest win of the early season Wednesday night when it routed Evergreen Valley 66-37 in the championship final of the Dons Club Holiday Tournament in Campbell.
The victory finalized a four-game slate through the Del Mar High tournament, which included a 64-9 win over Branham, a 50-24 victory against Westmont, a 45-29 triumph over Prospect, and Wednesday night’s wallop against a team that was expected to be in the CCS Division I title game later this season.
“If last game was good,” San Benito head coach David Kaplansky said, “then this game was great.
“We proved that we’re the defending Division I champs and we played like it.”
Evergreen Valley, which had returned each of their starting five from last season’s CCS team and had previously defeated Salinas 60-48 at the Dons Club Holiday Tournament, trailed the Lady ‘Balers by a sizeable 35-8 margin at halftime.
In fact, San Benito jumped out to a 13-0 lead to open the game – a fast start that top preseason opponents like Miramonte and Presentation displayed against San Benito earlier this season.
“And that’s why we played those top teams,” Kaplansky noted. “When we played Miramonte and Presentation, we got off to terrible starts. But when we come out with a sense of urgency, that dictates the tempo and that’s when we’re at our best.”
The scoring was certainly distributed, too, as four ‘Balers chimed in with double-digit point totals. Vanessa Farias, who was named MVP of the tournament, led San Benito with 14 points, while teammate Megan Halstead, who earned all-tournament consideration, contributed 13 points in the win.
Post player Victoria Aguilera added 12 points Wednesday, and point guard Erin Glasspool supplied 10 points.
“She was able to handle the pressure and did a good job of getting us organized,” Kaplansky said of Glasspool.
Regarding Aguilera, who was 6 of 8 from the field, Kaplansky said, “She did a great job on the boards. We had a big size advantage and we took advantage of that.
“And the difference in the game was the consistency of our rotation. We had balanced scoring and that put us in position to win, with everyone contributing.”
The Lady ‘Balers had 10 different scorers Wednesday.
The story of the game may have been the first half, though, as Evergreen Valley is averaging nearly 60 points per game through nine games this season, but only pocketed eight points through the first two quarters.
In fact, during the second quarter, the Cougars went four minutes without registering a point.
“We held a high-scoring attack to eight points in the first half,” Kaplansky said.
And despite its 6 p.m., tip-off on New Year’s Eve, the game was witnessed by many red and white clad Hollister fans, Kaplansky said.
“It was crazy,” the coach said. “It was red and white all over the place.”
San Benito, which improves 9-3 overall, will open Tri-County Athletic League at Everett Alvarez on Jan. 7, 2009.
“We need to keep this going into ’09,” Kaplansky said. “Keep the tradition alive.”
TEAM 1 2 3 4 F
EV 5 3 20 9 37
SB 17 17 14 18 66
San Benito (66) – Glasspool 1 2 2-2 10, Farias 4 2 0-0 14, Russell 3 0 0-0 6, Casalegno 0 0 1-2 1, N. Rianda 1 0 0-0 2, Halstead 6 0 1-3 13, Ademek 2 0 0-0 4, Guerrero 1 0 0-0 2, Aguilera 6 0 0-0 12, Vallejo 1 0 0-0 2.
