Once the Central Coast Section playoff brackets are announced on Sunday, the streak will hit nine years. And don’t think it’s coming to an end anytime soon.
The San Benito girls basketball team has qualified for the postseason the past eight years, but the Haybalers’ success this season has to rank among the top performances in the school’s basketball history.
With just two players returning from last year’s team, the ‘Balers kept their postseason streak alive and moreover, appear well-positioned to make some noise in the playoffs for years to come.
Though the contributions of senior returnees Ashley Patton and Ari Romero have been invaluable, head coach Al Rowe has given ample playing time to his stable of freshmen and sophomores throughout the season.
While that youthful presence bodes extremely well for the program’s future, San Benito will tackle the CCS field next week not truly knowing what it’s up against.
“It’s a disadvantage in a way,” said Romero of having so many inexperienced players. “They’re not going to know what it’s like and the caliber of teams that are going to be involved.”
Nevertheless, Romero cited her teammates’ work ethic as perhaps even more important to the team’s success than first-hand experience.
“Most of the kids don’t know what it’s like, but we have a lot of hard workers and I think we’ll rise to the occasion,” said Romero.
In making final preparations, Rowe tried to strike a balance between keeping practice fun and productive.
“We just did a lot of review, a lot of fun drills,” said the ‘Balers’ coach. “Just keep things loose and positive.”
Before driving off to scout potential playoff opponents, Rowe shared his thought that San Benito would garner a No. 8 or 9 seed in the Division I bracket.
After a strong preseason helped the team meet its CCS goal and turn what looked to be a rebuilding year into an encouraging 10-14 campaign, even San Benito’s players can’t help but look toward the future on the doorstep of the playoffs.
“This is going to be a big step for upcoming years,” said sophomore Bri Romero, Ari’s younger sister. “We’ll just take this experience and use it to prepare for next year.”
But with a first-round game on Wednesday and four seniors that are determined to go out on a high note of their own, San Benito knows it must live in the moment.
“It’s going to be tough and we’re going to have to work hard,” said the elder Romero. “It’s going to be a challenge, definitely.”
