Haybalers open TCAL with second straight game against
Salinas
Hollister – The Tri-County Athletic League boys basketball season is set to kick off tonight, but for San Benito it may have seemed like it already started.
The Haybalers open league play at home at 7pm today against Salinas, a team it faced Friday in the third-place game of the Condor Christmas Classic at North Monterey County High.
The Cowboys won that battle 70-55, but San Benito (4-10) is hoping to take some lessons out of that game.
“Hopefully we learned what they liked to do and can focus on some of the players that hurt us and scored on us in that game,” ‘Balers coach John Becerra said. “But they learned a lot from us, too.”
Becerra said the main focus will be stopping Salinas’ big interior players. The Cowboys (10-5) got 10 points from 6-foot-6 forward Joey Vasher and also boast a 6-6 center in Zack Gubser, who had six points. Six-foot guard Armand McKenzie paced the team with 16 points. Overall, Salinas has 12 players over 6-feet tall, compared to just six for San Benito.
“All I’m trying to stress is their big guys hurt us a lot so we need to focus on them,” Becerra said.
While the preseason has been rather unkind to the ‘Balers, Becerra is putting the focus on the team eliminating mistakes, which he said should help it turn the corner.
“It’s not so much the other team that’s been hurting us, it’s ourselves,” he said. “As soon as we start eliminating mistakes, we’ll be fine. We’re improving – slowly, but we’re getting there.”
Like most observers, Becerra believes Gilroy and Palma should be the teams to watch out for this season.
“I think Palma and Gilroy, on paper, are the teams that are going to be very difficult to defeat,” he said.
The two square off tonight at Gilroy.
“This game will set the tone (for the league season),” Mustangs’ coach Bud Ogden said. “If we play hard I think we’ll be fine.”
After that pair, Salinas and Alisal appear to be strong contenders for the next couple of spots and Alvarez figures to be the league’s most improved team behind junior Harvey Todd, who is averaging better than 28 points per game. Becerra hopes the ‘Balers can find themselves in the mix in the middle of the pack.
“I think for us we just need to get over the obstacle and win a game and things will improve tremendously,” he said. “Our kids work very hard and I think that’s the advantage we have over some teams. It’s a new season that we start (today). Hopefully, we’re more energized and up to the challenge. The intensity level will increase over non-league games. Every game counts toward the league championship, so hopefully we’re ready for it.”
Staff writer Marc David contributed to this report.
