Gilroy wins nailbiter over St. Francis of Watsonville
Gilroy – At times, it seemed like Gilroy was battling two teams in its first-round game of the Mustang Classic: St. Francis of Watsonville and themselves.
The Mustangs struggled on both ends of the court in the first half, but came back late in the second to beat the scrappy Sharks squad 49-45.
Gilroy (2-0) will play tonight at 8pm against Watsonville, which beat North Monterey County Thursday on a last-second lay-up.
“We didn’t execute at all in the first half, but we were our own worst enemy,” said Gilroy head coach Kari Williams. “We were turning the ball over on the entry pass, not taking advantage of our size and fouling.”
Gilroy trailed at halftime 23-22 and at the end of the third quarter 41-36.
But in the fourth quarter, Gilroy senior point guard Kristen Campos gave the ‘Stangs the boost they needed when she drained a three-pointer from the top of the key to give Gilroy a 46-44 lead.
It was a moment of brief redemption for Campos.
“I wasn’t playing very well the whole game. I thought if I could make (a three) it would bring my confidence up,” said the senior, who finished with 10 points and four assists.
It definitely brought the team up. Gilroy built on the momentum of Campos’ shot. After forcing three St. Francis turnovers, sophomore guard Vanessa Wilkins, who was a defensive terror in the final minutes, converted two free throws with 2:23 left to play to make it 48-44. In addition to her eight points, the sophomore had seven steals and eight rebounds.
“That’s Vanessa’s game,” Williams said. “She was all over the place. She tied up the ball a lot of times.”
Forward Dana Schoeneman (6 points, 8 rebounds) sealed the win when she picked off a long pass up the floor at half court with :21 seconds to go. In the final 5:18, the Mustangs allowed St. Francis just one point.
Earlier in the game, the ‘Stangs led 20-19 late in the second quarter, but allowed St. Francis two fastbreak lay-ups to give the Sharks a 23-22 lead at the half.
Poor defense by Gilroy in the third quarter gave St. Francis its biggest lead of the game, a 35-28 advantage. A jumper and a pair of free throws from senior forward Katherine Hussey, who led Gilroy with 13 points and seven rebounds, wrapped around a basket by Wilkins cut the Sharks’ lead to 35-34. But in the final minutes of the third quarter, St. Francis outscored the ‘Stangs 6-2 and took a 41-36 lead into the final quarter.
To make matters worse, Gilroy senior forward Jessica Groppe (10 points, 6 rebounds) picked up her fifth foul under the basket seconds into the fourth quarter as Wilkins knocked down a shot from the elbow. Schoeneman, the Mustangs’ other starting post, had to be brought off the bench with four fouls.
But from there, Gilroy showed guts and turned things around. Schoeneman scored on a lay-up and Hussey hit a free throw to tie the score at 41. St. Francis’ Shaina Torrente responded with a three-point play after a time out when she was fouled by Hussey, but then Campos hit her big three pointer.
In other games, Watsonville beat North Monterey County 33-32 on Jamie Barrera’s lay-up with two seconds to play. Earlier in the day, Aptos beat Carmel and Notre Dame-San Jose defeated Gunderson.
