‘Balers beat Salinas, will face Santa Catalina
Monterey – The San Benito High girls water polo team warmed up nicely for its upcoming showdown with Santa Catalina by routing Salinas 17-2 in the semifinals of the Tri-County Athletic League tournament.
The ‘Balers moved to the league title game Saturday at 5pm, where they will face the Cougars at Santa Catalina.
“Our defense was really good in this game,” San Benito coach Lacey Sutton said. “Last time we only beat (Salinas) by six.”
With the championship game upcoming, Sutton was happy to see her team play loose and well.
“One of my captains was telling me that when they have fun before the game, they do better,” Sutton said.
The ‘Balers surely had a lot of fun during the game.
They opened a 4-0 lead in the first quarter and pushed the lead to 7-1 by halftime. By the end of the third quarter, the game was far out of the Cowboys’ grasp at 10-1 and San Benito coasted.
Katie Buzzetta led the ‘Balers with seven goals and Jayme Telles poured in four more. Kirsten Palm and Valerie Nicolason each chipped in with two and Shelli Reed and Ali Blake both had a goal apiece.
After taking care of business against Salinas, San Benito can finally focus on its rematch against Santa Catalina, which beat the ‘Balers 14-8 during league play two weeks ago.
“It’s going to take a lot of smart water polo,” Sutton said of what San Benito will need to do to win.
