GILROY—The third quarter has been Christopher’s Achilles heel and Thursday night was no different as North Salinas mauled the Cougars 69-38 in the Monterey Bay League-Gabilan Division opener.
After a solid first half, the Cougars struggled as the Vikings broke the game open and took a 28-point lead into the final quarter.
”Something that we’ve struggled with all year is coming out flat in the third quarter and we did that against a good team and they jumped on us pretty good,” Christopher coach Robert Otis said.
The game was physical on both sides, but more so for the Vikings. North Salinas racked up 24 fouls and handed Christopher 30 chances from the free throw line, but the hosts only sunk half.
The Cougars also had to overcome a packed gym of boisterous Vikings fans whose cheers and chants overpowered the home crowd and distracted CHS players. Despite the fans and lopsided score, Christopher played hard until the buzzer sounded.
“The crowd was rowdy from their side and we just needed to stay calm, stay in our game and stay focused,” senior Teresa Guerra said. “The crowd did get to us a bit and we had to be strong in our minds.”
Scores from Guerra, Christa Arroyo and Melanie Tanaka gave the Cougars an 8-2 lead midway through the first. Miscues on defense allowed the Vikings to claw their way back to a 10-10 tie going into the second quarter.
Quick baskets from North Salinas’ Nicole Hermosillo-Wright and Alyssa Spring kicked off the second and gave the Vikings their first lead at 14-10; they never trailed again.
Guerra nailed a 3-pointer late to get the Cougars within two, 23-21, but that’s the closest they’d be for the rest of the game. They headed into the half down 29-22.
Arroyo opened the second half with a steal and a score, but then Christopher was held scoreless for almost six minutes while North Salinas tallied 21 points.
Haley Romero finally found the basket with 2:10 remaining, but the Vikings were well in control with a 50-26 lead.
“We started making bad passes at the end and part of it was my fault because I didn’t control the court like I was supposed to,” Guerra said. “The fact is that we need come together as a team again like we did the first half and keep playing that way and play hard.”
Trinity Stark and Guerra scored to open the fourth, but North Salinas killed their momentum with a 3-pointer from Jordyn Enos and a steal and score from Herosillo-Wright to take a 61-33 lead. The Cougars had scoring chances, but their shots just weren’t falling.
Stark led her team with 13 points and nine rebounds. Guerra scored eight for Christopher with five steals and three boards. Arroyo chipped in with seven points, five rebounds, two blocks and a steal.
The 1-9 Cougars will be back on the court at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Seaside (6-2).
Confidence, Otis said, is key moving forward.
“We need to put together a whole game where we play confident, we play aggressive and we believe in ourselves,” he said.
