Salinas uses height advantage to down the Haybalers 67-51
Wednesday in the championship final of the Condor Christmas Classic
in Castroville
CASTROVILLE
Unfortunately for the San Benito boys basketball team, the Salinas Cowboys were just as good as advertised.
Picked by some to be the favorite this year in the Tri-County Athletic League, the Cowboys (12-2) used their height advantage and capitalized on frequent second-chance opportunities Wednesday night when they defeated San Benito 67-51 in the championship final of the Condor Christmas Classic at North Monterey County High.
“They’re good,” San Benito head coach John Becerra said. “They beat us every quarter and they pummeled us on the boards. They had a bunch of put-backs.
“They’re good size and they’re a good team.”
Junior forward Kyle Vasher, standing 6-foot-5, led the Cowboys with 21 points, while 6-foot-3 senior Eric Neal dropped 19 on San Benito in the victory.
“We just couldn’t match up with their size,” Becerra said. “We battled, but this time they were stronger than we were. In league, hopefully we can make some adjustments.”
As a result, San Benito, which was riding a five-game winning streak, finishes runner-up in the holiday tournament, an improvement over their third-place standing from one year ago.
After taking a 17-13 lead to the second quarter, Salinas opened the game up when they outscored San Benito 15-9 in the second stanza and took a 32-22 lead to the break.
Dominic Zanella led the ‘Balers with 14 points, while Eric Elayda contributed 10. Kyle Vallejo supplied eight points, and both Jason Canchola and Jacob Hunt had five points apiece on Wednesday.
Zanella and Canchola, though, were selected to the all-tournament team for their outstanding play over the three games. This is Zanella’s second such honor this season after he was chosen to the all-tournament team at the Seascape Classic in Aptos.
San Benito finished the tournament with a 2-1 record, having previously defeated Carmel 59-51 on Monday and Evergreen Valley 53-52 on Tuesday.
The ‘Balers (8-5) will return to non-tournament play on Saturday at Santa Cruz (6-7). Tip-off is at 7 p.m.
TEAM 1 2 3 4 F
SAN 13 9 17 12 51
SAL 17 15 20 15 67
San Benito (51) – Vallejo 3 0 2-4 8, Von Urff 3 0 0-0 6, Elayda 1 2 2-2 10, Canchola 1 1 0-0 5, Hunt 1 1 0-0 5, Rickard 0 1 0-0 3, Zanella 7 0 0-0 14.
