Ever since losing its Tri-County Athletic League opener at Live
Oak three weeks ago, the San Benito High boys basketball team has
been waiting for another shot at the first-place Acorns.
Sure the Haybalers had to beat the rest of their league
opponents in the highly competitive TCAL, but it was Live Oak they
really wanted another shot at.
By JIM JOHNSON
Ever since losing its Tri-County Athletic League opener at Live Oak three weeks ago, the San Benito High boys basketball team has been waiting for another shot at the first-place Acorns.
Sure the Haybalers had to beat the rest of their league opponents in the highly competitive TCAL, but it was Live Oak they really wanted another shot at.
Friday, they got their chance, outlasting the Acorns 51-44 in front of a jam-packed home crowd to vault into a first-place tie with Live Oak in the league standings.
Seniors Eric Davis and Anthony Butler admitted that this was the game that had been occupying their thoughts since blowing a big lead en route to a 48-36 loss to the Acorns on Jan. 15.
“This is the biggest win,” Davis said. “We’ve been working on this in practice since we lost to them. We have a history between us. This is probably our biggest rivalry in the league. You can feel it. We haven’t felt this good about a win in a long time.”
“We’ve been waiting for this for a long time,” Butler said. “We knew we had a chance (to win and get into first place). We set everything up for ourselves (in league) and we knew we had to win this one.”
San Benito coach Dave Kaplansky said his team executed for an entire game this time against the tough Live Oak defense, which ranks first in the league.
The Balers also fully exploited their dominant inside game using 6-foot-5 center Butler and 6-4 junior forward Kyle Sharp, Kaplansky said.
“The difference between this game and the last game is we played a solid four quarters this time,” Kaplansky said. “We didn’t get away from the post, and we made buckets when we had to. When they got close, we made some big shots.”
In the first game between the two teams, the Balers used their post advantage to fashion an early 17-8 lead and were up by five at the half. But the Acorns were able to shut down the Balers’ inside game in the second half of that game and rallied for the victory.
This time around, Sharp and Butler never let up, combining for 38 of their team’s 51 points in the game. Sharp scored a game-high 22 points, and Butler added 16 after the pair combined for just 25 points in the first game. Only two other players had buckets for the Balers, while seven players scored for Live Oak.
“Hollister came and played – their two big guys, Butler and Sharp, really came through,” Paolucci said. “They made some big shots. The first time, those shots didn’t fall. This time they did.”
San Benito (16-6 overall) improved to 5-1 in league with the victory, while Live Oak (18-3) fell to 5-1 in league play. Second-place North Salinas (4-2) trails by a single game.
In the first quarter, Butler came out on fire and singlehandedly kept the Balers in the game against a determined Live Oak team that came in with a seven-game winning streak and was ranked No. 12 in the Central Coast Section.
After Live Oak jumped out to an 8-0 lead midway through the first quarter, Butler scored six consecutive points and eight of the next 10 to keep San Benito close. Sharp made a steal and a basket in the closing seconds of the opening period to pull the Balers within two points at 12-10.
In the second quarter, Sharp took over, scoring eight points in the period to help the Balers take a 22-19 halftime lead.
Meanwhile, Butler was giving Live Oak’s 6-foot-8 shot-blocking center Chris Deem fits, and Deem was in foul trouble for much of the game.
An aggressive Baler defense shut down the Live Oak offense, holding the Acorns to seven points in each of the second and third quarters. Paolucci expressed disappointment in the officiating, and said his team was not given even treatment.
In the second half, the Balers scored the first six points of the third quarter, including a pair of free throws by Davis after a technical foul on Paolucci, to take a 28-19 lead.
San Benito led 36-26 after three quarters before Live Oak made a move.
Acorn senior guard Joel Wright opened the fourth quarter with consecutive 3-pointers to pull his team within 36-32.
But Davis, who scored eight points overall, answered back for San Benito with a driving bucket, on which he was fouled, and a free throw to hold off the charge. Sharp added a big steal and thunderous dunk to help the Baler cause in the quarter.
Live Oak pulled to within 47-44 on senior forward Steve Conner’s 3-pointer with 16.7 seconds left to play, but Butler hit four free throws in the closing seconds to cap the victory.
Kaplansky said the victory was nice but discounted its overall importance, considering the Balers still have four highly competitive league games to go.
“This is a great win for the community, but the team is focused on the rest of the games,” he said. “In a tough league like this, you can’t focus on one game.”
San Benito plays at Gilroy on Wednesday and at second-place North Salinas on Friday.
Live Oak 12 7 7 18––44
Hollister 10 12 14 15––51
Live Oak: Wright 6 1-2 17, Powell 3 1-2 7, Connor 3 0-2 7, Porras 2 1-2 5, Deem 2 0-0 4, Yeung 1 0-0 2, Van Kuelan 1 0-0 2. Totals 13 3-8 44
San Benito: Sharp 11 0-3 22, Davis 4 3-3 11, Butler 4 8-9 16, Baladad 1 0-0 2. Totals 20 11-15 51.
3-point goals: LO-Wright (4), Conner.
