GILROY
–– Time-outs are the only breaks that the Lady Rams get during a
game since they only have five healthy players.
Despite the lack of bodies, Gavilan’s ‘Fabulous Five’ persevered
in Wednesday night’s home clash against Cabrillo, extending to a
double-digit lead in the second half en route to a dominant 59-39
victory.
”
It’s in our minds. Everybody knows that when you got five girls
foul trouble is a lot worse, but we really try to work hard on
moving our feet on defense and focus on not reaching and just play
good defense,
”
said freshman point guard Cynthia Pinto, who netted a team-high
18 points.
GILROY –– Time-outs are the only breaks that the Lady Rams get during a game since they only have five healthy players.
Despite the lack of bodies, Gavilan’s ‘Fabulous Five’ persevered in Wednesday night’s home clash against Cabrillo, extending to a double-digit lead in the second half en route to a dominant 59-39 victory.
“It’s in our minds. Everybody knows that when you got five girls foul trouble is a lot worse, but we really try to work hard on moving our feet on defense and focus on not reaching and just play good defense,” said freshman point guard Cynthia Pinto, who netted a team-high 18 points.
The past two games the Lady Rams have played with only five because freshman forward Carolyn Beatty is injured, but she is set to return for Gavilan’s next home game Jan. 14 against Hartnell at 5:30 p.m.
“The only thing we tell them is don’t get into foul trouble and we don’t want anyone to have more than two in the first half. Other than that, we don’t want to hold back,” said first-year head coach Mike Girardi. “We play aggressive and we play smart. We don’t want to play conservatively. We want to go out and give 100 percent effort. The only stipulation is watch the fouls, but still play hard.”
It is easier said than done, but the Lady Rams have grown accustomed to it. If a player does foul out, Gavilan is allowed to play with as few as three players on the court.
“(If someone fouls out), then we’ll beat them with four. You can play with three. You just have to start with five, but we don’t even think about it because we always think positive and nobody is going to foul out,” Pinto said. “We know to back off. This is our last game with five because we have our girl who was hurt coming back. We would just play with four and we’d play hard.”
The Lady Rams are off to an impressive 6-4 start with a 3-0 mark in the Coast Conference, using a strong work ethic and team work to take teams out down the stretch.
“All five played really hard,” said Girardi. “I think Sabrina Murphy did a great job of moving without the ball and being really active. The guard play of Cynthia and Nicole Donley, they did a good job of handling the ball and attacking.”
Murphy scored 13 of her 17 points in the second half, generating most by slashing to the basket, while Donley worked the outside and finished with 13 points. Freshman Jennifer Trembley added eight points and freshman Lacy Byers tallied three points.
“I was telling the girls no matter what happens you just keep working. It’s a 40-minute game so work through it and good things will happen,” said Girardi. “We’ve been pretty much playing like this. We’ve been pretty consistent the last five or six games. Our goal now is to just keep that up and try to keep progressing a little bit. We want to be at our best in late January and February.”
The Lady Rams built a 20-12 lead with 7:13 left in the opening half before Cabrillo used an 10-0 run, including two three-pointers, to claim a brief two-point lead. Trembley quickly answered for Gavilan, scoring on back-to-back lay-ups to give the Lady Rams the lead for good. At the break, the hosts led 27-24.
“It does get a little tiring when you run the floor, but you’ve just got to dig deep. People don’t realize it that when you’re tired, it’s more in your mind. Then you get a second and a third wind and you don’t even realize that you’re tired,” said Pinto. “Our initiative is to play harder so you force the other team to call a time-out so you get a break without your coach having to waste a time-out.”
Energized at the half, the Lady Rams came out on fire for the final 20 minutes, extending to a 10-point lead less than five minutes in. Cabrillo tried to get back into the game with solid three-point shooting, but Gavilan never stopped working and its lead stretched to 16 with six minutes remaining.
“I think the key to the game was we stayed calm and we stuck to our game-plan,” Pinto said. “We never cruise because we always play like the score is tied, like we’ve got to win if we’re down. We just play hard the whole time no matter what the score is.”
Even with Cabrillo making substitutions throughout, the Lady Rams never ran out of gas, playing stronger in the second than in the opening 20 minutes.
“I think part of that is in practice they don’t sit out like if you have 15 players you might stand in line, wait your turn,” said Girardi. “Well, there’s no waiting your turn in practice. They’re always in a drill doing something. Being in good condition helps. Then they are smart kids, too.”
They play unselfish and are never satisfied.
“I kinda dribbled it off my foot today one time,” Pinto said. “My ball-handling, I want to work it up a little bit, but I’m seeing my teammates when they’re opened and we’re running the floor real well and as long as we win I’m happy. I obviously did good enough to make us win.”
