For the first time since 2004, the San Benito boys basketball team will enter the Central Coast Section Division I playoffs as a league champion after earning that title Friday with a 57-45 victory over Alvarez.
With the win, the Balers closed the regular season with a 21-3 record, including a 11-1 mark inside the Monterey Bay League’s Gabilan Division.
After such a strong season, the Balers earned the highest ranking for a public school in the DI playoffs, taking the second seed. With that, the Balers won’t play until Saturday’s quarterfinals at Piedmont Hills. Bellarmine earned the division’s top seed.
For the second consecutive year, the Balers will need only three victories to win its first CCS title. With two wins, they will advance to the Northern California State championship tournament in Sacramento.
The time and opponent of Saturday’s game has yet to be determined.
SBHS girls basketball
The Balers weren’t quite able to play spoilers Thursday, losing 43-33 to Gabilan champion North Salinas, but San Benito clinched its sixth-consecutive CCS berth.
On Sunday, the Balers were announced as the Division I sixth seed, earning a first round bye. The Balers will host the winner of Monta Vista and Watsonville at 7 p.m. Thursday.
The Balers closed their regular season with a tough loss to the Vikings, though. Foul trouble caused issues for the Balers during the night, as they had a tough time slowing down North Salinas’ Darjhian Tennant, who scored 20 points.
“We had a hard time with turnovers,” SBHS head coach Mitch Burley said. “Somehow we had a 18-17 lead at halftime. It could have been more. We had a lot of opportunities slip by.”
The Vikings took advantage of those mistakes in the final two quarters, taking and extending their lead to 10 points.
“It was a scrappy game,” he said. “We had our opportunities.”
Denise Martinez scored a team-high 9 points for the Balers. Elizabeth Reikowski and Jacqueline Lerma added six points for the Balers.
SBHS soccer
After a one-year absence, the San Benito girls soccer team is returning to the CCS playoffs.
After finishing the regular season with a 11-3-4 record, San Benito was rewarded with the No. 11 seed and will travel to Palo Alto Wednesday to face the No. 6 seeded Vikings (13-4-2). The winner of the game will face No. 3 seeded Los Gatos (14-3-2).
With a win Wednesday, the Balers would win the school’s first ever CCS game in girls soccer.
The Balers earned their berth in the playoffs after dispatching Salinas 1-0 Friday in the season’s final home game.
Anzar basketball
After finishing the regular season with a 18-6 record, the Anzar girls basketball team earned the No. 7 seed in the CCS Division V playoffs Sunday.
The Hawks will host Alma Heights (13-9) at 7 p.m. Thursday in San Juan Bautista.
