High School Sports

A year ago, the Anzar High boys basketball team had one of its best seasons in recent memory, finishing 13-12 and earning a spot in the Central Coast Section playoffs. But things are fluid at the high school level, especially at a small school like Anzar, where change is constant.

The San Benito High boys soccer team didn’t exactly enjoy its time in the Monterey Bay League’s Gabilan Division last year. The Haybalers tied with Salinas for last place in the MBL’s upper division a year after they won the lower Pacific Division. San Benito enters its second year in the Gabilan expecting to show it belongs with the league’s elite teams.

It wasn’t that long ago when the San Benito High wrestling team regularly competed for Central Coast Section championships and had individuals vying to reach the CIF State Meet. First-year coach Steven Salcedo believes the program can get back to its once coveted position as one of the elite teams in the section.

The San Benito High girls soccer team opened the season with a 2-0 non-league loss to Leigh on Dec. 1. Despite recording just two shots on goal in the second half, the Haybalers showed flashes of potential that gave fourth-year coach Becky Bonner-Leland plenty of reason for warranted optimism.

A year ago, the San Benito High boys basketball team had a season to forget. The Haybalers finished 6-18 overall and 3-9 in the Monterey Bay League’s Gabilan Division. Only Seaside had a worse mark in the Gabilan. A rash of injuries and other issues exacerbated San Benito’s problems, making for a long season.

Despite returning just one starter from a team that finished second in the Monterey Bay League’s Gabilan Division a year ago, San Benito High girls basketball coach Mitch Burley expects good things for the upcoming season.

The San Benito High football team had a chance to measure itself against one of the best teams in Northern California on Friday in a Central Coast Section Open Division I playoff semifinal at San Jose City College.

ATHERTON — Lesser teams might have wilted, but not San Benito.

The San Benito High girls volleyball team won 30 matches for one of the few times in school history, including their first league championship since 2007. But the Haybalers simply ran into a buzzsaw in Menlo-Atherton on Wednesday in a Central Coast Section Division I playoff semifinal at Piedmont Hills High in San Jose.

For Elijah Changco and Angel Garcia, the realization of earning a state berth was overwhelming. Changco, a San Benito High senior, and Garcia, a Anzar High junior, produced strong performances in the Central Coast Section Cross-Country Championships on Nov. 14 at the rugged 2.95-mile Crystal Springs Course in Belmont.