Sports

Behind a game-high eight points off the bench from Jackie

Thirteen San Benito athletes are representing the Central Coast

Even when Kira Emma had doubts, her mom, Whitny, always encouraged her to stay strong. A sophomore at San Benito High, Emma is one of several solid girl wrestlers on the San Benito High wrestling team. Emma entered the week ranked 11th in the Central Coast Section in the 106-pound weight class.

San Benito High boys basketball coach David Kaplansky wasn’t kidding when he said “good shooting” to Hyram Miskin as the junior swingman substituted out of the game late in the third quarter Thursday.

Oliver Garcia conducts himself with a certain swagger that conjures up memories of his two older brothers, both of whom starred for the San Benito High boys water polo team. Jacob Garcia was a league MVP during his junior year, and Charlie Garcia, a 2015 graduate, was a standout who was never afraid to voice his opinion.

A season that started with league and section title aspirations ended in heartbreak for San Benito High Friday night. Seemingly in control of its fate, the host Haybalers instead absorbed a crushing 35-28 loss to Milpitas in a Central Coast Section Open Division I playoff semifinal.

After winning the fifth Monterey Bay League Gabilan Division cross-country meet of her career on Sept. 24, San Benito High senior Amy Quinones had to finish up some homework when she got home.

The San Benito High girls soccer team is coming off arguably its best season in program history, winning its first-ever Central Coast Section playoff game (not counting a forfeit victory it received four years ago). The Haybalers were expected to return up to nine starters this season, a huge haul that would’ve made them the odds-on favorite to win the Monterey Bay League’s Gabilan Division and make a deep run in the postseason.

As Abraham Arevalo was being dropped off at Tulsa Airport to catch a flight home, he received the best news possible from Oklahoma Wesleyan University men’s assistant soccer coach Stevan Djukic. “We want you to come back and we will offer you a scholarship,” said...