SAN JOSE
–– The San Benito girls basketball team may have been coming
into the Central Coast Section playoffs on a three-game losing
streak, but that didn’t stop them from powering over Silver Creek,
50-33, Saturday.
SAN JOSE –– The San Benito girls basketball team may have been coming into the Central Coast Section playoffs on a three-game losing streak, but that didn’t stop them from powering over Silver Creek, 50-33, Saturday.
The No. 3 Haybalers (19-9, 5-5 TCAL) advance to the CCS semifinals to face No. 2 Salinas, who won the previous two meetings this season.
The Balers started out slow, but once the offense got going it never stopped. Amy Mendez had six three-point shots for 18 points to lead the Raiders. Trisha Lee led the Balers with 17 points, and Jaime Hall had 14 points.
“The floor was a little slippery coming out, but that is no excuse,” Lee said. “We came out panicked and anxious. But we were able to get the ball inside more.”
J.T. Temporino, who was just called up from the JV team, played a strong game for the Balers with six points.
“It was really intense,” Temporino said. “There was a lot of excitement. This is a really good defensive team.”
San Benito was up 8-5 at the end of the first quarter but by the half had increased the lead to 23-13.
The Raiders had a brief 10-8 lead early in the second quarter, but Lee hit a three pointer to give the Balers the lead back for good.
“They were much bigger than us,” said Silver Creek coach Danny Gancayco. “We tried to run against them, but they out played us and out rebounded us.”
Mallorie Wilson was one of the Balers who picked up the intensity in the second quarter.
“There was a point there where we realized we needed to step it up or there wouldn’t be any more games,” Wilson said. “We started playing more as a team.”
Early in the third quarter, Beverly Magsanay went down with an ankle injury. She came back in briefly but was immediately pulled. Without Silver Creek’s best player in, San Benito was able to continue the pressure and take advantage of errors.
“When we start pushing the ball up that is when we pick it up on offense,” said Baler coach Tom Dean. “If we can push the ball up against Salinas, we should have a chance. We can’t come out slow again.”
With the big lead, Dean was able to play everyone.
Silver Creek 5 8 8 12 ––33
San Benito 8 15 18 9 ––50
Silver Creek: Hunnuh 0 2-3 2, Magsanay 1 3-5 5, Cao 1 0-0 2, Mendez 6 0-0 18, Sanchez 0 1-3 1, Lising 0 1-2 1, Anwanyd 1 0-0 2, Padilla 1 0-0 2. Totals 10 7-13 33.
San Benito: Hall 6 2-4 14, Flores 0 1-4 1, Lee 8 0-1 17, Almaguer 1 0-0 2, Kiesewetter 0 1-2 1, Leal 0 2-4 2, Temporino 3 0-1 6, Wilson 1 0-0 2, Patton 2 1-2 5. Totals: 21 7-18 50.
