Five players score in double-digits to lead GHS girls hoops to
first league victory over Live Oak, 74-40
GILROY – It’s been a long time coming, but the Gilroy High girls basketball team finally notched its first league victory with Wednesday’s dominating 74-40 home win over Live Oak.
“Finally,” said junior forward Kendall Costa, who finished with 11 points. “We had a few that we should’ve had, but we didn’t get so it was good to finally get one.”
Hopes of making the playoffs are still alive in garlic town, and Friday’s road clash against Salinas at 7 p.m. is a must have for the Lady Mustangs.
“We need that game,” head coach Kari Williams said. “We’re looking forward to playing down there. It was a good game here and we’ve matured a lot so let’s see what we can take down there and show them.”
Gilroy (1-4 in T-CAL, 9-12 overall) ended a four-game losing streak that started with a 74-64 loss to Salinas in its Jan. 16 home opener.
“That’s going to be tough, but I’m sure we can give them a run for their money,” Costa said. “Hopefully, this time we come out with the win.”
Live Oak (0-5 in T-CAL, 2-16) has struggled through the season, but the Acorn-Mustang rivalry always brings out the best on both sides.
“In the first two quarters, I thought we were playing kinda at their level and in the third quarter we came out and played like how we play,” Costa said. “That’s where we really picked it up and played good.”
The Lady Mustangs were ahead by eight at the end of the first quarter and then took a 10-point lead into the locker room. The second half was not their unraveling this time around, as the hosts built a 24-point lead at the end of the third quarter and led by more than 30 in the final quarter.
“That’s what hasn’t happened to us in the other games. We’re leading Hollister, we’re leading North Salinas, and we didn’t put them away,” Williams said. “We left the door open and they snuck through it. This is the kind of game we needed going in, some momentum.”
Senior center Sarah Hoeft had her best game of the season, putting in a team-high 14 points with a bunch of blocks underneath, while junior Shante Mancera added 11 points and freshman Kristen Campos tallied 10 points.
“Everybody was scoring. Everybody was executing,” Williams said. “We were trying some new things out and they were responding. As Live Oak did something different, we did something different. I think that we did a lot better job with that.”
Junior forward Michelle DiFiore finished with 10 points, freshman guard Marissa Nowakowski netted eight points, and both junior Amanda Link and senior Laila Correa added five points.
“Kendall Costa had a great game. Marissa hit some big shots, especially since we let them hang around with us,” Williams said. “That first half we weren’t getting the calls I thought we should have, but they played tough through it. I’m proud of them for doing that and I told them that’s what we have to do.”
Gilroy got stronger as the game went on, pulling away from the Lady Acorns instead of letting them back in.
“Our third and fourth quarter we actually better than our first and second, and that’s the first time that’s happened all year,” Williams said.
The Lady Mustangs need to lift either their overall or league record over the .500 mark to be considered for the post-season. It will not be easy with league games remaining against Salinas, Hollister, Notre Dame, North Salinas and Live Oak.
“I have a young team that’s maturing and hopefully we’re not going to run out of time before we mature,” Williams said. “Every game we get better. Every game we do things a little bit better. We execute a little bit better so that’s all I can ask from the girls right now.
“It’s just like any other win. We have a long road ahead of us, so we’re happy about this,” she added. “We’ll be happy about it tonight and we start with practice tomorrow, getting ready to play Salinas on Friday.”
