San Benito forced 35 turnovers en route to a 38-27 victory
against Salinas Friday night in Hollister, where the Lady ‘Balers
claimed a share of the Tri-County Athletic League title with North
Salinas
HOLLISTER
Just how good was San Benito’s defense on Friday night against Salinas?
The Lady ‘Balers forced more turnovers against the visiting Cowboys than they allowed points, making that whole “defense wins championships” line all too fitting.
“It’s how we win games. It’s what we pride ourselves on,” San Benito head coach David Kaplansky said. “I really feel defense wins championships and offense wins games. And we’re gonna stick by that philosophy.”
Go with what works, right?
On a night when San Benito’s offense took some time to get rolling, the Lady ‘Balers defense showed up at the opening tip. Forcing 35 turnovers, 11 in the first quarter alone, San Benito prevented the Cowboys from ever finding a rhythm Friday as they stifled Salinas’ attack en route to a 38-27 victory at Mattson Gym.
Defense won the game and assured San Benito (11-1 TCAL, 21-4) a share of its second straight Tri-County Athletic League title with North Salinas (11-1 TCAL, 21-3), which beat host Alisal 56-42 Friday.
“The defense was awesome. We gave 100 percent,” said post player Victoria Aguilera, who had eight points in the win. “We stopped their best player, (Rochelle) Welsh. Kelsey Russell kept her to [three] points, and I’ve got to point out the great defense by her.”
San Benito’s defense was the definition of pesky on Friday, and Russell was Salinas’ biggest annoyance.
Asked to guard Welsh, who averages 15.19 points per game and is the second leading scorer in the TCAL, Russell did that and more when she held Welsh to just three points but also caused many of San Benito’s steals in the process.
Welsh made an and-1 field goal, her only basket of the game, with 5:09 remaining in the fourth quarter.
“I thought the difference in the game was Kelsey Russell’s defense. She was unbelievable tonight,” Kaplansky said. “She was tenacious on defense, ignited our fast break and she got some good rebounds. She had a tough task guarding Welsh man-to-man, and I’m just proud of her effort.”
Even though next week’s Central Coast Section Division I playoffs may have been on the minds of the Lady ‘Balers initially, guard Vanessa Farias said her coach prevented the team from looking past Salinas (6-6 TCAL, 16-11).
“He said, ‘I don’t care about CCS right now. What I care about is this TCAL title,'” said Farias, who finished with a game-high nine points. “He made that clear.
“The CCS will come after this. Let’s just hold on, wait, and take it step by step.”
The Cowboys led for just 30 seconds in the game after Myquesha Jackson laid one in off the backboard to give Salinas a 4-3 lead early in the first quarter. But a half-minute later, Russell stole an inbounds pass at midcourt, then tracked down the loose ball just before it was about to go out of bounds on Salinas’ baseline.
Russell tossed the ball behind her where point guard Erin Glasspool was waiting, who then quickly dished off to Aguilera under the hoop for an easy score.
Although the Lady ‘Balers only led 19-15 at halftime, and only began to pull away in the third quarter, Salinas never took the lead back.
“You can never lack on defense,” Farias said.
San Benito’s offense, meanwhile, picked up in the second half when it began to break down Salinas’ box-and-one, which focused on Farias.
“Once we started penetrating the defense I felt we were able to capitalize on the box-and-one, rather than playing into the box-and-one and being passive and staying out on the perimeter,” Kaplansky said. “I felt like knifing the defense and attacking the basket gave us the energy we needed and the confidence that we could score.”
After Salinas’ Alexis Warne opened the third quarter with a jumper in the paint that cut the lead to two points, San Benito went on a 13-0 spurt and built a 32-17 cushion late in the period.
Sparked by a fast break layup from Russell, which initially started with a steal, San Benito outscored the Cowboys 13-5 in the third and carried enough of a lead into the final quarter.
Although they shot 26 percent (15 of 58) from the field, the Lady ‘Balers took 23 more attempts than Salinas, a direct byproduct of 35 turnovers.
“I felt like the shots were there tonight, they just weren’t going in,” Kaplansky said. “But the second-half penetration, the lay-ins, the good passes, that’s when we got our confidence up.”
San Benito shot 21 percent in the first half and 32 percent in the second.
“The offense was a little shaky in the first half,” Aguilera added, “but we got it together after halftime and that’s all that really matters.”
Friday’s win was greeted with a somewhat composed celebration, however. But with everything that happened last year, San Benito may just have bigger goals in mind.
Or winning back-to-back titles may simply not have sunk in yet.
“We were excited, but I think we held it in,” Farias said. “When we go to practice on Monday, I think we’ll be a little more excited.”
Notes:
San Benito shot 6 of 10 from the free-throw line … Salinas was 6 of 9 from the free-throw line … The Lady ‘Balers committed 10 turnovers … The CCS seedings will be announced this weekend.
TEAM 1 2 3 4 F
SALI 4 11 5 7 27
SANB 9 10 13 6 38
Salinas (27): L. Cunanan 0-1 1-2 1, G. Giammanco 2-5 0-0 5, M. Jackson 1-2 0-0 2, H. Larick 2-11 4-4 8, E. Larronde 1-2 0-0 2, A. Warne 3-4 0-0 6, R. Welsh 1-6 1-1 3.
Three-point goals: G. Giammanco 1.
San Benito (38): K. Russell 2-8 2-4 6, V. Aguilera 4-9 0-1 8, M. Halstead 3-5 0-0 6, V. Casalegno 0-0 1-2 1, V. Farias 3-13 3-3 9, E. Glasspool 2-16 0-0 6, N. Rianda 1-6 0-0 2.
Three-point goals: E. Glasspool 2.
JV Note:
Dealt with a small squad for the second straight game, the San Benito girls junior varsity team was able to make do with what they had.
San Benito dressed just six players but managed to stave off Salinas 49-42 Friday night at Mattson Gym in Hollister, ending the regular season on a high note.
Despite the shortage of players, though, the Cowboys didn’t play man-defense or press the Lady ‘Balers, two sets that likely would have tired out San Benito’s six.
“That was good that they didn’t do that,” San Benito head coach Karen Fortino said. “But it was a successful year. We’re looking good.”
With plenty of playing time to go around, all six Lady ‘Balers pocketed points Friday, and Cyrena Salinas paced San Benito with 12 points.
Michelle Fortino added 10, Jessica Steigleman had nine, Kim Warner eight, Jackie Echaorre seven and Amanda Byron rounded out the team with three points in the victory.
“When everyone scores,” Fortino said, “we always win.”
The Lady ‘Balers finish their season with a 19-5 overall record and 8-4 in the Tri-County Athletic League.
TEAM 1 2 3 4 F
SALI 6 10 10 16 42
SANB 19 13 7 10 49
