In high school girls basketball, there is always one
team-to-beat and that’s Notre Dame-Salinas
GILROY – In high school girls basketball, there is always one team-to-beat and that’s Notre Dame-Salinas – a perennial power that usually defeats opponents before they even step on the court with their reputation.
One of Gilroy’s two losses came at the hands of Notre Dame – which handily defeated the Lady Mustangs 76-40 in the Mustang Classic championship game earlier this month.
“They have a good basketball team. There is no other way to describe it. They’re very good. There’s a rivalry. There’s a lot of emotion that goes into it,” said head coach Kari Williams of Notre Dame. “In the second half, we played a lot better basketball when we settled down and kind of did the things that I asked them to do, the things that we practiced everyday.”
But at that point, the Lady Spirits of Notre Dame were in cruise control – only needing to hold on to their already mammoth lead.
“I think that we just didn’t know what to expect with them. They kind of took us off guard. They run the ball a lot. They’re all fast. They all can dribble. They all can do every skill,” senior captain Laura Hennessee said. “I think now that we know more about them – now that we’ve played them and we did play better in the second half – I think we can play with them and possibly, yeah, we can beat them.”
The Lady Mustangs play Notre Dame twice during their Tri-County Athletic League schedule – a Jan. 29 home game and a Feb. 13 road game.
“I think this year the next time we match up with them it’s not going to be easy for them. I think that we have potential to become as good as they are or even better. But I think we’ll beat them,” junior guard Sarah Miller said.
“The kind of frame of mind we were in before the first game was, ‘Oh Notre Dame, we’re going to get our butts kicked. We went out there thinking we were going to lose and we did.”
But most basketball teams do get intimidated by Notre Dame and Gilroy was no different.
“We played so much better in the second half – which I tried to emphasis with the girls, how much better they did when they stopped worrying about who we were playing and what we were doing and went on to just playing basketball,” Williams said.
Notre Dame – an all-girls private school which won the league championship last year – attracts a lot of the area’s best players, including two from Gilroy. Sophomore Jessica Ross – a Gilroyan – is the reigning Central Coast Section’s freshman of the year. The returning first-team All-League guard – who stands five-foot-11 – is already getting looks from major college programs.
In addition, junior guard Nicole Daye transferred out of Gilroy High this year to go play basketball at Notre Dame.
“Notre Dame has one of my best friends – Nicole Daye. She taught me how to play basketball. We’re sisters and it’s hard for us (because) we’re in competition,” junior center Sarah Hoeft said. “We played against them, but I don’t think we were ready to play against them. In the season, I think we will be ready to play them.”
The Lady Spirits – who are coached by John Given – also have the reigning league MVP in guard Sarina Benavente and host of talented players. Last season, Notre Dame reached the section’s semifinals before their playoff run ended prematurely.
“I think we have potential to become what they are right now,” Miller said.
And that’s proven winners.
“Notre Dame is definitely a team that we’ve never been able to beat at the varsity level. That’s definitely what we’re trying to work for,” said Dow, who looks forward to playing a number of league foes. “Hollister – we beat them last year. I’d like to beat them again this year. North Salinas – we beat them last year and we’d like to beat them again this year.
“Notre Dame – we’ll just try that one again and, hopefully, come out with a much better game than we played.”
The Lady Mustangs are on the rise and looking to knock off any team that gets in their way.
“We’re going to go into every game, believing we’re going to win that game. Otherwise, why show up,” Williams said. “That’s where we have to get. We’ll practice and we’ll work on our game and we’ll work on our skills.”
