‘Balers Fall Hard to ‘Stangs in TCAL Opener
Gilroy – The San Benito girls basketball team learned a number of important lessons in its Tri-County Athletic League opener last night. To wit, how much more intense games are in the league season, how tough it is to keep your composure when playing on the road, and above all, what happens when you don’t stick to your gameplan.
Unfortunately for the Haybalers, that education came on the receiving end of a body blow, as Gilroy walloped its visitors 62-36.
A last-minute change of venue, made necessary because the scoreboard in San Benito’s main gym is under repair, forced the ‘Balers to begin league play at their fiercest rival, rather than being welcomed by their home fans. With only two returning players from last year’s team, the game quickly turned into a rude awakening for San Benito.
Gilroy used two separate 7-0 runs, fueled by eight ‘Baler turnovers, to take a 17-7 lead at the end of the first quarter. Attempting to match-up with the tall, aggressive Mustangs, San Benito (6-7, 0-1 TCAL) committed nine fouls in the opening period and saw Gilroy make 6-of-11 free throws.
“Basketball is a physical game,” said ‘Baler forward Ari Romero, a San Benito veteran who held her own in the paint, collecting eight first-half rebounds. “Some of our players are young and they don’t quite understand that yet.”
Nevertheless, one of the ‘Balers’ talented freshmen, guard Vanessa Farias, gave her team hope by opening the second quarter with a steal and a coast-to-coast lay-up. Fouled on the play, Farias converted her free throw to pull San Benito within seven points.
But the Mustangs (11-4, 1-0 TCAL) quickly ran off six consecutive points to push their lead back to double digits, where it would stay for the rest of the night.
San Benito head coach Al Rowe was frustrated at his team’s inability to execute a fastbreak play that the ‘Balers drilled during their past two practices.
“We had a certain gameplan to face Gilroy,” said Rowe. “As a matter of fact, I didn’t see it once. Not once. We were going to push the ball. Not once. …”
The ‘Balers’ problems holding onto the ball–San Benito committed 35 turnovers on the night–meant that instead of mounting a comeback, the team only fell into a deeper hole. Trailing by 11 at the half, San Benito saw its deficit grow to 45-26 by the end of the third quarter. The overwhelmed ‘Balers surrendered a 13-0 run to start the final quarter, ensuring an outcome that had the visitors shaking their heads afterwards.
“It was hard,” said San Benito senior Ashley Patton. “We know that Gilroy’s a tough team and they’ve been playing together for three years. Losing nine seniors, it’s really tough [for us] to get into the flow, but I think that, as the season goes on, we’ll start clicking more and playing more as a team.”
Gilroy head coach kari Williams was pleased her team forced the ‘Balers to play at its pace.
“We had our tempo, our offense, our defense,” said Williams. “We were really aggressive and I think that set the early tone.”
Meanwhile, Rowe believed his ‘Balers never quite made the mental transition from preseason to TCAL play.
“You can tell ’em and make ’em aware of it, but this was the first time,” said Rowe. “The intensity of the crowd … it’s a big difference than the preseason.”
Farias led San Benito with seven points and four steals, while sophomores Elena Fata and Bri Romero each scored six.
Gilroy’s Katherine Hussey scored a game-high 14 points and notched five steals, while Jessica Groppe posted a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
San Benito’s Ari Romero, who finished with ten rebounds to go with her five points, spoke of the ‘Balers’ need to chalk the loss up to a learning experience and just move forward.
“We’ve got to put it in the past,” said Romero. “Even though we got our butts kicked, we’ve got to learn to come back strong and keep our heads up.”
