Trisha Lee was right on time with her biggest night as a varsity
basketball player at Hollister High.
Trisha Lee was right on time with her biggest night as a varsity basketball player at Hollister High.
Lee, a sophomore guard, went off for a career-high 22 points in the Balers 58-46 triumph over stubborn King City in a non-league contest Tuesday night at Mattson Gym.
The Mustangs (1-2) rallied from a 20-point halftime deficit to pull within four points with two and a half minutes to play. The Balers (6-1) salted the game away with some good free throw shooting, ending the evening 9-for-11 from the charity stripe.
Lee, for her part, was a perfect 4-for-4 from the line and 9-of-15 from the field as she kept breaking free for medium-range jumpers, to go with her nice floor game.
“I had a bad practice Monday,” said Lee, who added a couple of steals. “Before the game I was warming up in the other gym and I felt good. I was just on (tonight).”
The Mustangs put up a fight largely behind junior center Natasha Marquis, who had a game-high 24 points. Compounding the situation was that Baler center Sarah Groman, who had just two points, and played sporadic minutes after running into foul problems guarding Marquis. Groman, who had six rebounds, had only four shot attempts on the night.
“Natasha dominated Hollister’s post players,” said Mustangs coach Ken Kline. “I was happy the way we came back. Hollister was just deeper than us. They’re well-coached and hard to beat. And No. 24 is an excellent player.”
No. 24 is Hollister’s Gina Caianiello, who was just 3-of-13 from the floor and had just 10 points. However, she had eight assists to go with three steals and helped run the Balers’ transition game. Caianiello also had the move of the night when she executed a reverse spin layin with a defender on her, complete with finish at the 2:48 mark of the third period. She drew the foul as well but failed to convert the 3-point play.
Hollister led by eight after three periods and extended the lead to 10 on a 16-foot jumper by Lee. Naomi Ruiz, who had 14 points and seven boards, scored inside for 49-37 Balers. The Mustangs then went on a 7-0 run as the Balers hurt themselves with quick shots.
Hollister coach Richard Silva called timeout with 2:33 remaining to stem the tide. It worked as the Balers settled down, taking care of the basketball in the process. Ruiz hit two free throws, the second one rimming in, out and back in. Caianiello added the front end of a 1-and-1 for good measure.
“We had that big lead at half,” said Ruiz. “We were slow to pick it up in the third quarter. Once we did, everyone played great.”
“We got complacent,” said Silva. “Marquis was a force inside. We had to double-team her. We knew when we scheduled King City that it would be a barn-burner. Lee’s performance was huge (tonight).”
The Lady Balers host Santa Catalina Thursday night at 6 p.m.
Junior varsity: The Baler JV’s paced themselves to a 39-30 victory over King City.
“We didn’t push it too much,” said Baler head coach Tom Dean, whose team is 7-1.
Jamie Hall had 13 points, while Jamie Flores and Ashley Patton each had six points.
