Basketball, soccer seasons continue
Balers take King City, tie Notre Dame
If you only witnessed the first 10 minutes of regulation last
Friday, you would have believed Notre Dame rolled to an easy
victory.
If you only saw the last 10 minutes, you would have figured San
Benito posted a dominating win.
Basketball, soccer seasons continue
Balers take King City, tie Notre Dame
If you only witnessed the first 10 minutes of regulation last Friday, you would have believed Notre Dame rolled to an easy victory.
If you only saw the last 10 minutes, you would have figured San Benito posted a dominating win.
Instead, although each team had their opportunities, neither Notre Dame nor San Benito rolled or dominated Friday in the Tri-County Athletic League opener in Hollister, where the two teams finished in a scoreless tie.
Although their shots on goal were nearly even in both halves, the Lady Balers started slow and allowed the visiting Spirits to control the middle and the tempo early on.
But as the game progressed, and as San Benito switched from a 4-3-3 to a 4-4-2, the Lady Balers began to put several high-percentage shots on net.
“They had a strong defense. Once we figured what we needed to do in the middle, we started getting shots consistently,” San Benito head coach Ben Alvarez said. “But that first half, we were not awake.
“They were sluggish in the beginning. And with a team like that, we can’t afford for them to come at us like that.”
The Lady Balers (0-0-1 TCAL, 8-1-2) rebounded with a 4-1 win over King City on Monday. San Benito is slated to play at Alisal on Jan. 7. Match time is 5 p.m.
Vest makes verbal commitment
San Benito High sophomore Jessica Vest made a verbal commitment to play softball at the University of Oklahoma, becoming perhaps the youngest Haybaler to do so after the Norman-based college recently made an attractive offer.
“They were the first letter I had ever received,” Vest said, “and when I got to their campus, I felt at home and I could see myself going to school there with all the people.”
Vest, who’s No. 1 in her class with a 4.17 GPA, won’t be able to sign a National Letter of Intent until her senior year. But having the decision out the way early should certainly relieve some of the pressures college-hopeful athletes, Vest included, experience every game.
“There is a lot less pressure (now),” Vest said. “I’m still trying hard, but there’s less pressure to impress every coach that comes to the games.”
Vest is the third member of the Lady Baler softball team to commit to a school this offseason, joining JC Clayton (BYU) and Marisa Ibarra (SF State), each of whom signed letters of intent last month.
Girls’ basketball
The San Benito girls’ basketball team went 1-1 at the Skyline Shootout last weekend, opening up their two-game slate with an impressive 69-34 victory over host Skyline on Friday before falling to Oakland Tech on Saturday, 54-44.
The Lady Balers certainly made a statement in their first match against host Skyline (5-5), jumping all over the Titans 18-4 in the first quarter.
San Benito held a comfortable 37-16 lead at halftime.
The Lady Balers (4-2) received 34 points from two post-position players alone. Megan Halstead led San Benito with 24 points and teammate Lauren Ademek had 10. Vanessa Farias had 18 on the night.
San Benito also defeated North Monterey County 72-31 last Tuesday night.
San Benito will play Orinda’s Miramonte (3-2) at the Presentation Shootout in San Jose on Saturday. Tip-off is at 7:30 p.m.
Boys’ soccer
Blessed with a speedy front line, the Palma Chieftains utilized their artificial turf playing surface and scored the first goal within 10 minutes of play, then tacked on two more goals within the first 10 minutes of the second half and breezed past the Haybalers 5-1 last Thursday.
Playing in their third game already that week, including a 1-0 win against King City and a 3-0 loss to Carmel, the Balers have fallen to 0-1 in the TCAL, 3-5 overall.
San Benito got on the board in the 72nd minute after forward Alex Castillo passed back to mid Andres Hurtado on the left side. Hurtado, from approximately 20 yards out, rifled a shot off the right post and into the net to cut Palma’s lead to 4-1.
The Balers will host Alisal on Jan. 6 at 3:30 p.m.
