San Benito picked up a win over Santa Cruz High
This week, they unwrapped Christmas gifts. Next week, the San
Benito High boys basketball team will wrap up the preseason portion
of its schedule before tipping off play in the Tri County Athletic
League on Jan. 8 at Salinas High.
San Benito picked up a win over Santa Cruz High
This week, they unwrapped Christmas gifts. Next week, the San Benito High boys basketball team will wrap up the preseason portion of its schedule before tipping off play in the Tri County Athletic League on Jan. 8 at Salinas High.
On Friday night before leaving for Christmas break the Balers picked up a 77-55 win over visiting Santa Cruz High to up their record to 7-4.
“We’re doing very well and we’re improving game by game,” Baler head coach John Becerra said. “And even when we’ve lost they’ve been close. We lost two games by a point (Milpitas, Cupertino). We lost another by four (Watsonville) and we lost another by seven (Gunn). In the game against Watsonville (12-2) we were right there. We just needed more discipline on the court.”
Much of the reason for the Balers early success this season has been the strong play of guard Marty Bueno and Brian Haggett, the team’s No. 3 guard/forward.
In the early going this season Haggett, who was a standout player on the baseball team last spring, has found his shooting rhythm and is averaging 12 points a game to lead the team.
“He’s got good athleticism. I believe that if you can play basketball you can play the other sports at a very decent level too. Brian has been doing an outstanding job for us,” Becerra said. “He is our toughest offensive player, and his passing keeps improving.”
Not far behind Haggett in the offensive department is Bueno, who is scoring 11 points a contest. And although he’s only about 5-foot-6 Bueno plays with tenacity on the court and has proven to be the team’s biggest threat outside the arc from three-point land.
“He’s doing a good job offensively too,” Becerra said. “He gives us our outside threat.”
Becerra has also been impressed by Bueno’s unselfishness on the floor this season.
“He’s a lot better at distributing the ball to the open man,” Becerra said. “He makes his passes at the right time. And that has showed because his assists totals have gone up every game. He’s just a real competitor. He battles all over the court.”
In the victory over Santa Cruz Haggett and Kevin Burley scored 16 points a piece. Jason Canchola had 15 and Jamil Taylor had 11 to lead the Baler scoring attack. In addition to his eight points, Bueno led the Balers in the assist category with 12.
Despite trailing 31-30 after two quarters, the Balers came back with a vengeance in the second half of play, outscoring Santa Cruz 47-24 to seal up the home win.
Heading into the crucial league games Becerra’s main concern is with his team’s ability to control its emotions on the court.
“We need to improve our attitude and control our emotions on the court,” Becerra said. “We’ve had a little bit of foul trouble this year because we get too hyper and start getting concerned with the referee’s calls. When we’ve been able to control our emotions we’ve been much more successful.”
