Dribbling the ball of your heel can certainly take the
excitement out of a game-winning drive to the hoop, and even make a
one-point overtime game feel slightly anticlimactic.
But only slightly.
Dribbling the ball of your heel can certainly take the excitement out of a game-winning drive to the hoop, and even make a one-point overtime game feel slightly anticlimactic.
But only slightly.
San Benito’s league matchup with Alisal on Friday night had enough twists and turns that even a Trojan gaffe at the buzzer couldn’t take away from the overall excitement of the game itself.
Tyler Rickard broke a 50-all game by sinking a pair of free throws with six seconds remaining, then Alisal’s Gus Angulo tied it at 52-52 with two freebies and no time on the clock, forcing the game to an overtime period — San Benito’s second OT contest in as many games.
The two teams battled back and forth in the extra period before the Balers secured a 57-56 lead with time expiring, while Alisal committed a turnover in the waning seconds to seal the win.
Believe me, it was much more exciting than the previous two paragraphs.
However it ended, though, the win could not have come at a better time for the Balers — another overtime loss at home would have been brutal for a youthful team moving forward.
San Benito had been the definition of inexperienced earlier this year, losing several close battles during its non-conference slate, and in devastating fashion, no less.
And while Friday’s victory was by no means perfect — far from it, in fact — defeating a higher-ranked Alisal team, in overtime, and doing it from the free-throw line, could supply San Benito with a little late-game confidence and knowhow, which was exactly what the team needed in the first place.
“It was a huge win,” said Cooper Sepulveda, who had 17 points against Alisal. “It’s the [best] team we’ve beaten. We had the previous two games (against Gilroy and Palma) pretty much locked up, but we couldn’t finish. Today we finished.
“… We’ve grown the last two games, and it showed tonight.”
Much like how the pressures of winning your first game can build with each and every loss you start with to open the season, the same can be said for the big game against an equal or better opponent — it’s always the most difficult to get the first one out of the way.
And like I said, the Balers still have a ways to go. Turnovers late in the game continue to be an issue — seven of their 13 turnovers against Alisal came in the fourth quarter and overtime period — while free-throw shooting could still use a boost in percentage.
But the first nail-biting victory is out of the way, no matter how anticlimactic it may have ended.
