Despite a game with winners and losers, it might actually be
difficult to gauge where North Salinas and San Benito stack up next
to each other.
Seaside
Despite a game with winners and losers, it might actually be difficult to gauge where North Salinas and San Benito stack up next to each other.
The defending Tri-County Athletic League champion Vikings and the up-and-coming Haybalers squared off in the second round quarterfinals at the Seaside Sweet 16 Tournament Thursday, but neither team played well enough to make any without-a-doubt TCAL predictions for the upcoming season.
North Salinas may have defeated San Benito 36-27 Thursday, but the next time the two teams meet up in league play, coach David Kaplansky does not plan on doing anything differently.
“Both teams make each other not play very well. Both teams are defensive-minded teams and I think that had a lot to do with it,” Kaplansky said. “I’m satisfied with our work ethic. I just think we could have focused a little more with our shots.”
It was the lowest point total of the season for the Lady ‘Balers, as they shot 9 of 64 from the field and 9 of 17 from the free-throw line.
The loss puts San Benito at 8-3 on the year, with all three losses coming in tournament play.
North Salinas couldn’t do much better, though, shooting 17 of 57 from the field and 2 of 7 from the line. Although the Vikings committed 22 turnovers to San Benito’s 14, they controlled the boards in the first half and provided themselves with extra opportunities on the offensive end.
“Unfortunately, we didn’t shoot the ball any better than yesterday,” Kaplansky said. “We did everything we could do defensively, holding a good team to 37 points. Our shot selection was good, but at one point I thought there was a lid on the basket.”
Despite San Benito holding on to a slim two-point lead on two different occasions early in the third quarter, the turning point of the game came in the waning minutes of the third period.
Tied at 23 points apiece with just under four minutes left in the third, North Salinas finished the quarter on a 6-0 run to put themselves ahead 29-23 after three, and then pushed the lead to 10 after starting the fourth quarter with four more points.
San Benito was forced to play catch-up for the remainder of the game, and on a night where their shots were simply not falling, it made it that more difficult to mount any sort of a comeback.
“I just felt like we couldn’t make a shot,” Kaplansky said. “The bottom line is that we had plenty of attempts.”
Megan Halstead led the Lady ‘Balers with eight points, while Vanessa Farias and Elena Fata each supplied six points apiece. Kelsey Russell and Lauren Ademek added four and three points, respectively.
San Benito will play today against the loser between Harbor (Santa Cruz) and Georgetown (Austin, Tex.), a game that was not reported at press time. Tip-off is at 5 p.m.
“We get another chance (today),” Kaplansky said.
Team 1 2 3 4 F
SB 6 10 7 4 27
NS 8 9 12 7 36
SB (27) – Ademek 1-6 1-2 3, Farias 0-17 6-7 6, Fata 2-14 2-2 6, Halstead 4-14 0-2 8, Russell 2-5 0-0 4.
Three-point goals – none.
