In preparation for Tuesday’s season opener against Andrew Hill
High, Gilroy girls’ basketball coach Keri Williams reminded some of
her players of last year’s early-season loss to the Falcons in San
Jose.
In preparation for Tuesday’s season opener against Andrew Hill High, Gilroy girls’ basketball coach Keri Williams reminded some of her players of last year’s early-season loss to the Falcons in San Jose.
“That loss,” Williams recalled, “was just terribly disappointing.”
What a difference a year makes.
At home against an almost embarrassingly short Andrew Hill team, the Mustangs led from start to finish in an almost laughable 71-13 victory.
“This year,” Williams said, “we have a bigger and better team.”
It might do down as the understatement of the season.
In a game that included two separate 22-0 runs, every GHS player on the roster scored, led by senior post McKenna Logan (14 pts.) and junior guard Katherine Hussey (13 pts.).
“You have to feel kind of bad for them,” said Logan, who led a team in scoring for the first time in her high school career. “But on the other hand, we always play hard because you just never know what can happen.”
In this game, it simply never happened for the turnover-friendly Falcons. While they trailed only 16-6 after the first quarter, it turned out they had already exhausted nearly half their points.
In the second quarter, the Mustangs exploded, going on their first 22-0 run to close the half with a 42-9 lead. At one point, Logan scored eight points in about a two-minute span.
“Everyone was really unselfish tonight,” she said. “We definitely played as a team.”
Coming back out of the locker room, Andrew Hill actually scored the first basket of the second half. In the fourth quarter, they added one more basket.
And that was that.
“That’s our goal this year … the defense,” said Williams, who – it should be noted – didn’t have her team press after halftime. “Last year we tried to just outscore everybody. This year we’re talking about defense and working hard on the boards.”
Regarding the latter, the third-year coach was especially pleased with performance of Logan, who often plays center at a somewhat smallish 5-foot-9.
“All but one of her baskets came off of offensive rebounds,” Williams said. “As a coach, I love it. That’s the best.”
Gilroy (1-0) now gets set to host its annual Mustang Classic, a three-day event involving 16 varsity and junior varsity teams. On Thursday, GHS opens with a 8pm game against Gunderson High, a team it’s beaten in the last two Mustang Classics.
* In a 71-13 runaway victory over Andrew Hill, every player on the Mustangs contributed at least one basket. Here’s where all the points came from in the 58-point victory:
McKenna Logan 14
Katherine Hussey 13
Marissa Nowakowski 8
Kristen Campos 8
Shanté Mancera 7
Amanda Link 7
Jessica Groppe 6
Michelle DiFiore 4
Sarah Whitney 4
Kendall Costa 2
Stephanie Radtke 2
