San Benito takes fourth place in TCAL; Baler boys finish fifth
after easy win against Monterey
CARMEL
The story surrounding Saturday’s Tri-County Athletic League Tournament contest between San Benito and Stevenson, where the winner would advance to the Central Coast Section playoffs, was team defense.
“They played better than we did,” San Benito head coach Hayley Vandercook said. “They basically took Amanda (Virak) out of the game. They took her out and my girls were unable to adjust to that.”
Using double-team coverage on the senior hole set Virak, as well as a suffocating perimeter press, Stevenson found an edge in the third quarter and held on to an 8-6 victory over the Lady Balers Saturday in Carmel.
“I don’t think we’ve been pressed that hard in a game,” Vanderook said. “We had a tough time adjusting.”
The win advances the Pirates to the CCS Girls Water Polo Championships after they finished as one of the top three teams in the TCAL, along with Gilroy and Salinas.
It was Salinas, however, which defeated Gilroy 5-4 on Saturday for the TCAL title.
“It was extremely important to win this game and go to CCS,” senior keeper Katie Thorpe said. “But it’s defintely important to look at how we did this season, despite what we did at the TCAL Tournament.
“But it’s defintely not a good feeling, to say the least.”
San Benito, which wraps up its season at 13-8 overall, entered the year-end tournament as the No. 2 seed behind Salinas after it compiled a 7-1 mark during the regular season.
But after last week’s easy 12-5 win over Monterey, the Lady Balers suffered a surprising 9-8 defeat against Gilroy in the semifinal round to move into Saturday’s third- and fourth-place consolation match.
“That was the bigger upset for me,” Thorpe said of last week’s loss to Gilroy. “I was numb already.”
Despite the setback, San Benito still had a chance to advance to the CCS playoffs. But limited to just one goal during the second and third quarters led to the Lady Balers’ demise, as Stevenson built a commanding two-goal lead heading into the final period.
Implementing a defense San Benito often employs, the Pirates covered down on Virak, then pressed all the way up to the middle of the pool, which kept the Lady Balers spaced and far apart. The constant pressure forced low-percentage passes and kept San Benito from mounting a consistent offensive attack.
“We were so far apart that we couldn’t get it to our players,” Vandercook said.
San Benito was just as stifling on defense, though, often forcing turnovers before the Pirates were even able to set up their offense.
“They did play better than they did against Gilroy,” Vandercook said.
Exchanging back-and-forth goals to a 3-3 tie after one quarter, San Benito and Stevenson both forced constant turnovers and shot-clock violations in the second stanza, as neither team was able to pocket the go-ahead score before halftime.
“Our defense was really good,” San Benito freshman Caitlin Schafer said. “But they would drive a lot and kind of cause confusion.
“I don’t know what happened.”
The third quarter played out in a similar way to the second, up until Pirates hole set Teddy Danielson broke the more than 10 minute offensive drought early in the period to give Stevenson a 4-3 edge. Danielson, who finished with a game-high four goals, scored again 34 seconds later to supply the Pirates a two-goal cushion, while Schafer cut the deficit in half when she deposited one of her team-high two goals on the day late in the quarter.
But Stevenson’s momentum, coupled with its lead, defense and a ticking clock, was enough to keep the Lady Balers at bay in the final period.
“It was a bit of a surprise and we weren’t used to it,” Schafer said of Stevenson’s D.
San Benito will lose three seniors from this year’s team, including Virak, Thorpe and Demi Gatrell, who added a goal for the Lady Balers on Saturday. Hannah Blake, Hannah Smith and Lauren Lango each added a score, while the captain Thorpe blocked nine shots in net.
“It was defintely a fun season,” Thorpe said. “And that’s what matters.”
SBHS Boys Water Polo
After shutting down Watsonville 15-7 Friday in the Tri-County Athletic League Tournament, the San Benito High boys water polo team advanced to Saturday’s fifth- and sixth-place consolation match in Carmel, where it easily downed Monterey 17-9.
The Balers, the fifth place team in the TCAL, finish their season at 11-13 overall.
“Overall, they did a decent job today,” San Benito head coach Tom Agan said. “Josh Schafer was really on today and put quite a few goals in.”
Schafer deposited nine goals against Monterey, single handedly equaling the Toreadors’ offensive output for the match. Teammate Nick Angulo, meanwhile, added six scores for the Balers, while Eric Nicolaysen and Tyler Agan pocketed one goal apiece.
“Defensively, we played a much better game than we did against Palma,” Agan said. “We were pretty much in control of the whole game.”
San Benito, which had defeated Palma 10-9 during the regular season, lost to the Chieftains last week by a 15-10 margin to open the TCAL Tournament.
Palma went on to lose to Salinas in the semifinals, while the Cowboys claimed the TCAL Tournament title when they defeated Carmel 11-8 in the championship.
