Chieftains outscore San Benito 41-18 in second half en route to
65-38 victory
SALINAS
It was a tale of two halves for the San Benito High boys basketball team.
Trailing by just four points at halftime to host Palma Tuesday, San Benito couldn’t keep up with the Chieftains’ offense and were outscored 41-18 in the second half en route to a 65-38 loss in Tri-County Athletic League play.
San Benito falls to 0-4 in the TCAL, while Palma improves to 4-0.
“It was two halves,” San Benito head coach John Becerra said. “In the third and fourth quarters, they blitzed us … They attacked us and left us behind.”
After a first half that saw the Chieftains take frequent outside shots, many of which were not falling, Becerra said, Palma increased the intensity in the second half and opened a comfortable lead as a result.
“They began to attack the basket a lot stronger and they made baskets, for sure,” Becerra said. “They shot well in the second half.”
San Benito trailed 24-20 at the break, but were outscored 21-7 in the third quarter.
“If they missed the shot, they’d get the rebound and put it back in,” Becerra said. “Or if we collapsed, they’d kick it out and guys would have wide-open shots.”
Palma was led by 17 points from Michael Cahalan.
San Benito’s Tyler Rickard led the Haybalers with nine points, while Kyle Vallejo added seven. Cooper Sepulveda and Dominic Zanella each had four points and a team-high six rebounds.
San Benito (8-10 overall) will return to Salinas Thursday to play Alisal at 7 p.m.
TEAM 1 2 3 4 F
SANB 11 9 7 11 38
PALM 13 11 21 20 65
San Benito (38) – K. Vallejo 3 0 1-2 7, T. Von Urff 1 0 0-0 2, C. Sepulveda 0 0 4-4 4, J. King 1 0 0-0 2, E. Elayda 2 0 1-2 5, J. Canchola 1 0 0-0 2, J. Hunt 0 1 0-0 3, T. Rickard 4 0 1-1 9, D. Zanella 2 0 0-0 4.
