San Benito Holds Off Sobrato Late to Pocket TCAL WIn; ‘Balers
Fighting for Position as Central Coast Section playoffs
approach
The San Benito Haybalers girls basketball team came into Morgan Hill on Tuesday night to face the Sobrato Bulldogs knowing the young Bulldogs team would be hungry to notch their first win in Tri-County Athletic League play.
San Benito (10-12, 4-6 TCAL) was ready for the aggressive play from Sobrato (7-12, 0-9 TCAL), and despite having to overcome two technical fouls, the ‘Balers edged out the Bulldogs, 48-35.
“It was an ugly win. Ugly, but a win,” said San Benito coach Al Rowe. “The game was a lot closer than the score showed. Sobrato was hungry to win and I told the girls before the game that it’s those kind of teams that can come back to bite you.”
The Bulldogs started off fast in the first quarter and opened up a 8-4 lead with just under three minutes left with physical play in the paint. The ‘Balers offense wouldn’t be held off for long, however, and with 49 seconds remaining in the period, San Benito tied the game at 10-10 on two free throws by Ashley Patton and two lay ups from freshman Symone Baker.
San Benito kept the momentum in the second quarter and took over the lead right away with a free throw by Megan Halstead and field goals from Vanessa Farias and Kristen Archulate, 15-10. By halftime, the ‘Balers had a 20-14 lead.
In the third quarter both teams got into foul trouble early, aggressively trying to out-muscle each other for rebounds and it seemed the game was going to get out of the referees’ control. San Benito extended their lead to 26-15 about half-way through the third, when the Bulldogs’ Nina Baio started to exert her dominance on the boards and inched Sobrato back to within three points, 26-23.
With just under two minutes remaining in the third quarter, the ‘Balers were called for the first of their two technical fouls and Michelle Bradley hit all four free throws to give Sobrato the 27-26 lead. San Benito went into the fourth quarter trailing 29-28.
“You never want to blame anything on the refs or use them as an excuse,” said Rowe. “My girls, that’s not how we play, with the technical fouls and all. That’s what happens when the refs don’t take control of the game.”
The ‘Balers took over in the fourth quarter and didn’t give up the lead for the rest of the game as the Bulldogs had a hard time getting their outside shots to fall.
Farias led San Benito with 14 points, including hitting eight of her 10 free throw attempts, and five rebounds. Elena Fata had nine points for the ‘Balers, while Patton added six points and Bri Romero pulled in four rebounds.
Free throws proved to be important for the ‘Balers in the win as the Bulldogs resorted to fouling under the basket late. As a team San Benito shot about 52 percent from the free throw line, making 17 of 31.
“Sobrato has been playing aggressive. I have to hand it to their coach,” said Rowe. “Unfortunately it’s the last time we’ll face them.” San Benito hosts the Salinas Cowboys for its next TCAL match-up on Thursday at 7pm.
