The girls basketball team continued to find ways to win, sweeping the Alisal Winter Jam Tournament over the weekend to move its record to 5-2.
With the three wins and tournament championship, the Balers have now won five games in a row.
The Balers opened the tournament Thursday, wanting to enact some revenge over last year’s tournament-opening loss to Aptos. This year, the Balers pounced on the Mariners with 22 first-half points on their way to a 36-29 win.
“It was a big game to see where we were at,” Burley said. “Aptos is a good team, even though they’ve struggled a bit so far this year.”
In the game, the Balers defense stifled the Mariner opportunities.
“We played really well,” Burley said. “Defensively we did a really good job. It wasn’t as close as the final score indicates.”
In the weekend’s second game against King City on Friday, the Balers continued to show their defensive fortitude. The Balers limited King City to 11 first-half points in route to a 60-24 victory.
San Benito emptied its bench in the win.
“A lot of people got to play,” Burley said. “They all did a great job. We were just making our shots.”
In the third quarter, when the Balers outscored King City 23-11, the Balers made 10 of 16 shots.
“We had everything going for us,” Burley said.
In the tournament finale, the Balers, once again, got off to a quick start by outscoring Salinas 13-8 in the opening quarter. The Balers rolled from there to win 46-38.
It was the second time in a week the Balers faced Salinas.
“It’s tough when you play a team like that,” Burley said. “We played good though,”
Taylor Fabing got the Balers off to a good start by hitting three 3-point shots in the opening quarter. The Balers’ defense then shut down the explosive Salinas’ offense.
“It was a great win for the girls,” Burley said.
The Balers host Seaside at 7 p.m. Tuesday.
Girls soccer
After struggling to score in recent games, head coach Ben Alvarez though it was time to open up the Baler offense. On Friday, the girls rewarded their coach with a 5-0 victory over St. Francis C.C. Catholic.
The Balers, now 3-3-1, used a strong defensive showing to slow down the Sharks’ attack. San Benito allowed only four scoring opportunities in the game, meanwhile the Balers’ attack contributed 18 shots on the goal.
“I’m very happy with the results,” Alvarez said.
The Balers return on Jan. 9 to open the league season against North Salinas.
Boys Soccer
The boys soccer team struggled to find an offensive rhythm over the weekend, failing to score in two losses.
The weekend started with a 3-0 loss to Yerba Buena on Thursday. The Balers allowed three first-half goals to fall behind.
“Once we got behind the effort went away,” head coach Tony Deras said.
The Balers struggled again Saturday in the final game of the Oak Grove Gold Cup, losing to Prospect 5-0.
San Benito trailed 2-0 at halftime before allowing a third goal in the first five minutes of the second half.
“After the goals, we just collapsed,” Deras said.
The Balers, now 1-3-3, will play North Salinas on Jan. 10 to open the league season.
