San Benito easily defeats Cowboys 50-23, will see Gilroy
Wednesday
MILPITAS
Beating a team three times in any given season is supposed to be difficult.
Well, it’s supposed to be.
“It’s the energy,” San Benito guard Vanessa Farias said. “Here we are, back again, and the energy’s rising.”
Back at Milpitas High School, back where last year’s postseason run began, San Benito flexed its top-seeded muscle on Saturday. Playing league rival Salinas for the third time this season, the No. 1 Lady ‘Balers delivered their most comfortable win on the Cowboys to date when they cruised to a 50-23 victory in the quarterfinal round of the Central Coast Section Division I playoffs.
Having previously defeated No. 8 Salinas 49-38 on Jan. 28 and 38-27 on Feb. 20, the third time was the charm for San Benito, which advances to Wednesday’s semifinal round against No. 5 Gilroy.
Tip-off will be at 5:30 p.m., at Milpitas High.
The Mustangs upset No. 4 Piedmont Hills 67-61 Saturday, but they too have fallen to the Lady ‘Balers twice already this season as well – 56-41 on Jan. 16 and 40-29 on Feb. 11. And although it will be another league opponent, the Lady ‘Balers aren’t necessarily playing like it’s the league season.
“We know it’s Salinas and we know it’s TCAL, but they’re gonna step up because they know how we play,” said post player Lauren Adamek, who scored a game-high 12 points Saturday. “We need to step up, too. But it feels like there is a lot more energy. Everybody wants it a lot more as soon as CCS comes around.”
Like flipping a switch.
“Our kids were better prepared to find the open spots on the floor,” San Benito head coach David Kaplansky said of the Salinas game. “We did a good job of recognizing the open areas, and the third time you play somebody, you get used to certain defenses and you’re able to find the open spots.”
Although San Benito’s defense was in its usual form on Saturday, holding Salinas to just three points in the first quarter – all of which came from the free-throw line – San Benito’s offense exploded in the first half and jumped out to a 28-10 lead at the break.
And it was the bigs, led by Adamek but also including Megan Halstead and Victoria Aguilera, who pushed the Lady ‘Balers out in front with ease.
Adamek scored 10 of her 12 in the first half, while the three post players combined for 26 points in the win.
“They came out in the same kind of defense that they played us last time,” Adamek said of the box-and-one defense. “But this whole week of practice, we’ve been practicing the box-and-one. We really challenged our whole team to rise to the occasion. And everyone did it tonight.”
Although San Benito’s leading scorer Vanessa Farias was held to just two first-half points, she had nine in the third quarter alone and sparked a 17-6 quarter that supplied the Lady ‘Balers with an all-too-comfortable 45-16 lead heading to the final period.
Erin Glasspool, meanwhile, had nine points, all of which came from 3-point range.
“We practiced all week on the box-and-one (defense),” Farias said. “We destroyed it.”
“I felt like a lot of kids contributed,” Kaplansky added. “As long as we got contributions from our team, we’re a tough team to beat because our consistency on defense has been so solid.”
Salinas, though, had no answer to San Benito’s defense once again, and no answer for Kelsey Russell. The previous time the Lady ‘Balers played prior to Saturday was on Feb. 20 when they earned a share of the Tri-County Athletic League title with a win over Salinas, and it was the defense that stymied the Cowboys that game, forcing 35 turnovers and allowing just 29 points.
And Russell was the thorn in Salinas’ side. Guarding leading scorer Rochelle Welsh, who averages 15.3 points per game, Russell limited her to just five points Saturday, all of which came from the free-throw line.
Russell’s defensive strategy was simple.
“Don’t let her touch the ball,” she said. “You’ve got to stick to her like glue. Wherever she goes, don’t let her have the ball.”
Russell suffered a minor ankle sprain against Salinas on Feb. 20, but the defensive stalwart was still able to play nearly the entire game Saturday, still able to keep Welsh off the scoreboard for much of the game.
“What can you say about Kelsey Russell two games in a row?” Kaplansky asked. “I’m just so impressed by her work ethic … I held her out of practice all week, and she gave me three quarters of everything she had.”
Hannah Larick led Salinas with eight points, but the Cowboys were held to single digits in each quarter.
In other news, No. 3 Evergreen Valley and No. 2 Carlmont will square off in the opposite semifinal game.
TEAM 1 2 3 4 F
SALI 3 7 6 7 23
SANB 14 14 17 5 50
Salinas (23): M. Jackson 1 0 0-0 2, A. Warne 1 0 1-2 3, A. Sawyer 1 0 0-0 2, R. Welsh 0 0 5-8 5, C. Andrus 1 0 1-3 3, H. Larick 4 0 0-2 8.
San Benito (50): E. Glasspool 0 3 0-0 9, V. Farias 3 1 2-4 11, K. Russell 1 0 0-0 2, V. Casalegno 1 0 0-0 2, L. Adamek 6 0 0-5 12, V. Aguilera 3 0 0-0 6, M. Halstead 3 0 2-3 8.
