San Benito defeats Live Oak 41-39 for first victory of the
season
Hollister – Two girls basketball teams looking for their first win of the season locked up Monday night and thanks to a late bucket by San Benito’s Jayme Telles, the Haybalers delivered a 41-39 home victory over Live Oak.
“We needed that,” San Benito coach Al Rowe said as his team improved 1-4.
The Acorns, who this season moved from the Tri-County Athletic League to the Blossom Valley Athletic League, fell to 0-4.
“It’s always been tough for us to win here,” Live Oak coach Jeff Perkins said. “I think it was a good game. Every night out we should get better. Now, we need to learn how to win.”
In a game that was close throughout, the ‘Balers scored with about 20 seconds left when Telles caught a pass and made a move inside and hit a short runner to put her team on top for good.
After a missed shot by the Acorns on the other end, San Benito’s Megan Halstead and Live Oak’s Taylor Sutton both got their hands on the ball to force a jump ball and the possession arrow allowed the Acorns to keep the ball with 1.4 seconds remaining.
Megan Gulla, who led Live Oak with 13 points, got a good look at a 3-pointer off the inbound pass, but her shot hit off the back iron to secure the win for the ‘Balers.
“We just were with it this game and it showed with the win,” said Telles, who scored all five of her points in the fourth quarter.
Rowe was happy to see his team break into the win column and credited the fact that the team spread around the scoring to seven different girls.
Vanessa Farias led the team with 11 points and also had seven rebounds. Morgan O’Laughlin had nine rebounds to go along with her six points, Halstead had eight points and seven rebounds and Kelsey Russel grabbed eight rebounds.
The ability to grind out a victory also should be a positive step for San Benito.
“That means the girls are listening,” Rowe said. “That’s a big part of the mental game. There’s going to be lots of close games.”
Both teams started off slow and the ‘Balers held a 9-7 first-quarter lead.
Live Oak picked up the pace a bit in the second quarter. Gulla, who also had seven rebounds, scored five points during the period to help the Acorns to a 19-16 halftime lead.
San Benito scored the first seven points of the third quarter – Farias had a quick bucket and then a 3-pointer – and the ‘Balers entered the fourth with a 30-29 advantage.
A 3-pointer by Taylor Sutton gave Live Oak a 37-34 lead midway through the final period. But O’Laughlin hit an 18-footer, Elena Fata scored inside and a Telles’ free throw gave San Benito a 39-37 lead.
The Acorns’ Afshawn Chakamian, who hauled in 10 rebounds, scored inside with less than a minute to go, but Telles ensuing bucket propelled the ‘Balers.
Junior Varsity
San Benito’s junior varsity team improved to 5-0 this season with a 40-25 win over Live Oak on Monday.
Vanessa Casalegno and Victoria Aguilera both had 10 points to lead the ‘Balers. Tara Burgin was 3-for-3 from the line and finished with five points and Courtney Cabrera had eight points and seven rebounds.
Freshman
The ‘Balers freshman team dropped to 2-7 with its 30-16 loss to Live Oak.
Kat Graves paced San Benito with eight points and Sam Johnson was strong on the boards with 10 rebounds.
In last week’s action, the team took the consolation championship in the Seaside tournament with a 19-17 win over Notre Dame-Salinas on Thursday.
Ashley Rivera led the ‘Balers with 11 points and Erin Porteur delivered the game-winning basket.
San Benito opened the tournament with a 35-11 loss to Seaside before rebounding to win 29-28 over King City.
Cassie Pate paced that win with 13 points and Rivera, who was an all-tournament selection, had seven.
The ‘Balers continued with non-league play Friday and fell in a rematch against King City 23-22.
The Mustangs sank two free throws with three seconds left to earn the win against San Benito, which turned the ball over 38 times.
Melisah Cortez led the way with 10 points and Johnson added five points and played solid defense.
