Marty Bueno scored 21 points and Brian Haggett had 16 as the San
Benito Haybalers won their third game in a row with a 70-53 victory
at Pacific Grove Tuesday.
Pacific Grove
Marty Bueno scored 21 points and Brian Haggett had 16 as the San Benito Haybalers won their third game in a row with a 70-53 victory at Pacific Grove Tuesday.
Bueno’s 21 was highlighted by four 3-pointers, while Haggett also managed to prevent the Breakers’ best player, Kyle Neely, from taking control of the game, coach John Becerra said.
Although Neely scored 21 points, 10 of those points came in the fourth quarter when San Benito already had a comfortable lead.
The ‘Balers also got 11 points from David DeMateo and 10 points from Tyler Ruiz, as San Benito routed Pacific Grove in the second quarter, 25-13.
“It’s nice to see that,” Becerra said. “The more kids score, the better it is because they can’t concentrate on one person.”
The coach said of the second quarter that San Benito intercepted some of Pacific Grove’s passes, which lead to easy lay-ins. They also helped each other out on the defensive end.
“We’re coming together as a team and everyone is doing their job,” Becerra said. “We’re moving the ball, moving the ball quickly up-court, which is leading to easy lay-ups. It’s improving game by game.
San Benito (5-3) will play Saturday at Watsonville (8-2), who recently took first place at the Seascape Resort Invitational in Aptos. Tip-off is at 7:30 p.m.
Team 1 2 3 4 F
SB 10 25 18 17 70
PG 9 13 14 17 53
SB (70) – Medina 0 0 1 1, VonUrff 1 0 7 9, Bueno 3 4 5 21, Haggett 6 0 4 16, DeMateo 4 1 0 11, Ruiz 4 0 2 10.
Girls Basketball
San Benito 69,
North Monterey County 43
Castroville
The San Benito Lady ‘Balers exploded for 27 points in the first quarter Tuesday and thumped host North Monterey County 69-43.
The two teams were knotted at 10-10 to start the game, but coach David Kaplansky switched San Benito’s defense midway through the first and reaped the benefits.
“The first quarter was outstanding,” he said. “I didn’t like how our man defense was working so we switched up to a zone press … We went to the press and broke the game open.”
San Benito would outscore NMC 17-2 for the remainder of the first quarter, and cruise to the easy victory.
Elena Fata scored 15, Vanessa Farias had 12 and Victoria Aguilera provided 10 points from San Benito, who will travel to Santa Cruz Friday to battle Harbor.
“We seemed to be scoring really well this evening,” Kaplansky said. “We did a better job of attacking the defense and creating for others.”
San Benito shot 9 of 15 from the line.
With San Benito’s up-tempo style of play, Kaplansky noted the importance he saw in having rested players. The Lady ‘Balers dropped two games in as many days last week, and the head coach noticed the upside Tuesday in having fresh legs.
“Our style of play carries over to the next day,” he said. “It takes a lot of energy out of you.”
San Benito (4-2) will play Friday at Harbor (3-2) at 7 p.m.
Team 1 2 3 4 F
SB 27 12 17 13 69
NMC 12 11 9 11 43
SB (69) – O’Brien 1 0 2 4, Fata 5 1 2 15, Farias 4 0 4 12, Russell 2 0 0 4, Casalegno 2 1 0 7, Halstead 2 0 0 4, Ademek 2 0 1 5, Romero 3 0 0 6, Aguilera 5 0 0 10, Bugarin 1 0 0 2.
Boys Basketball
St. Francis (Watsonville) 49, Anzar 40
Watsonville
A rough second quarter in which the Anzar Hawks were outscored 21-9 eventually led to a 49-40 defeat to St. Francis Tuesday in Watsonville.
Erik Olson had a double-double for Anzar with 18 points and 17 rebounds, but the remainder of the Hawks were held to single-digits.
Coach Ed Cecena feels that Anzar needs more of a team effort.
“Erik isn’t getting the enough support. The other guys really need to pick it up,” Cecena said. “We’re working hard to improve our skills. All we can do is keep working hard.”
While Anzar held strong for three quarters, it was the second quarter that proved to be the difference. Said Cecena, “They got on a roll. They got on a streak, they made some easy lay-ups, and we couldn’t break the momentum.”
The Hawks (2-3) will look to break out of their three-game losing streak tonight at the San Jose High Academy Invitational. Anzar will play the host team, San Jose High, at 7:30 p.m.
Team 1 2 3 4 F
ANZ 11 9 7 13 40
STF 8 21 12 8 49
ANZ (40) – Indarose 0 1 0 3, Mockabee 2 0 2 6, Waller 3 0 1 7, Rania 3 0 0 6, Olson 8 0 2 18.
Girls Basketball
Monte Vista Christian 53, Anzar 35
San Juan Bautista
The Anzar girls basketball team had Monte Vista Christian in the double bonus early, but couldn’t take advantage and lost 53-35 on Monday in San Juan Bautista.
Alyssa Rodriguez led the Hawks with 21 points and four rebounds, while Nicole Mello, who coach Aaron Netzel said played exceptional in the first half, finished with seven points.
Rebounding and free-throw opportunities, though, was the difference maker. Netzel said MVC had two or three chances on the offensive end from strong rebounding, while they also had 14 personal fouls in the first half. Anzar couldn’t capitalize.
“You’ve got to make them pay for that,” Netzel said. “They were a post-oriented team. Unfortunately for us, that is a weakness.
“But the positive were that we got healthier.”
Emily Anderson and Liliana Resendez both returned to the lineup and contributed Monday. Anderson, in fact, had seven rebounds and three steals to go along with two points.
Anzar (0-4) will today at Soledad. Tip-off is at 6:30 p.m.
Team 1 2 3 4 F
ANZ 8 10 6 11 35
MVC 12 16 13 12 53
ANZ (35) – Rodriguez 5 2 5 21, Mello 2 0 3 7, Resendez 0 1 0 3, Anderson 0 0 2 2, Merz 1 0 0 2.
