San Benito fell one point short of advancing to the winner’s
bracket Tuesday when Cupertino edged the Haybalers 51-50 in the
first round of the Independence Fukushima Invitational.
SaN JOSE
San Benito fell one point short of advancing to the winner’s bracket Tuesday when Cupertino edged the Haybalers 51-50 in the first round of the Independence Fukushima Invitational.
With the loss, San Benito (2-3) will instead move into the consolation bracket, where it’ll face the loser of Tuesday’s late game between Monta Vista and Milpitas.
On Tuesday, guard Marty Bueno provided a season-high 20 points for San Benito behind three 3-pointers, and Brian Haggett added 14 in the one-point loss.
Assistant Coach Dan Quinn said the ‘Balers were up four points with approximately two minutes remaining in the game, but a pair of big shots by the Pioneers pushed Cupertino ahead for good.
“It was really close the whole game,” said Quinn, adding that neither team had more than a six-point lead in the contest. “We had a couple more turnovers than they did and a lost possession will hurt you eventually.”
For the second game in a row, the ‘Balers also struggled getting to the foul line. Cupertino was 9 of 13 from the charity stripe Tuesday while San Benito was 4 of 8.
“We just didn’t get to the line enough to really make a difference,” Quinn said. “We’ve got to be able to attack the basket.”
San Benito will play in Thursday’s consolation bracket game at 3 p.m.
Team 1 2 3 4 F
SB 8 11 12 19 50
CUP 10 11 13 17 51
SB (50) – Bueno 5 3 1 20, Haggett 4 1 3 14, Taylor 1 0 0 2, Burley 2 0 0 4, Zanella 1 0 0 2, Ruiz 4 0 0 8.
CUP (51) – Ly 4 0 4 12, Lew 2 1 1 8, DeBorea 4 3 2 19, Brinkerhoff 1 0 0 2, Warren 2 0 0 4, Zhang 1 0 0 2, Husic 1 0 2 4.
Anzar 47, St. Thomas More 51
San Juan Bautista
Despite a double-double effort from Erik Olson, the Anzar Hawks boys basketball team lost 51-47 Tuesday to St. Thomas More in San Juan Bautista.
Tavo Indarose led the Hawks with 14 points on the night behind a trio of treys, while Olson had 12 points and 16 rebounds, and added seven blocks for Anzar, who led 27-20 at halftime.
But a slow third quarter allowed St. Thomas More back into the game and back into the driver’s seat where they would eventually leapfrog the Hawks.
“They outscored us 19-12 in the third quarter and that was the turning point,” coach Ed Cecena said. “We just didn’t defend very well. We’re just not able to sustain our intensity through four quarters.”
Cecena said the breakdowns are coming mostly on the defensive end, where fatigue could be leading to mental mistakes.
On the offensive side, Anzar won the turnover battle 13-15, but Cecena said the turnovers came at inopportune times.
“We just turned the ball over at critical moments,” he said. “We weren’t able to finish.”
Anzar did come within two points of St. Thomas More late in the fourth quarter, but a turnover spelled doom for Anzar.
The Hawks will look to turn it around next Tuesday when they’ll play at St. Francis (Watsonville) at 7 p.m.
Team 1 2 3 4 F
ANZ 11 16 12 8 47
STM 13 7 19 11 51
ANZ (47) – Indarose 2 3 1 14, Mockabee 3 0 2 8, Waller 1 1 0 5, Rania 3 0 0 6, Olson 5 0 2 12, Martinez 1 0 0 2.
