Although the host Haybalers carried a 26-23 lead early on in the
fourth quarter, at a point in the game where both teams appeared to
be finding their offensive spark, the two rivals went in opposite
directions. San Benito committed five turnovers over the next
five-plus minutes, and Gilroy went on a 13-2 run before closing out
a 45-35 victory at Hollister’s Mattson Gym.
HOLLISTER — For three and a half quarters, Tuesday’s Gilroy-San Benito tilt was a game only a basketball mother could love — an ugly, turnover-heavy battle with neither team able to find any sort of offensive rhythm.
And then all of that changed.
“It’s Hollister,” Gilroy guard Michelle Sosa said afterward. “We don’t want to lose to Hollister.”
In a rivalry game, that’s usually enough of a reason.
But although the host Haybalers carried a 26-23 lead early on in the fourth quarter, at a point in the game where both teams appeared to be finding their offensive spark, the two rivals went in opposite directions. San Benito committed five turnovers over the next five-plus minutes, and Gilroy went on a 13-2 run before closing out a 45-35 victory at Hollister’s Mattson Gym.
“Key possessions, we find ways to turn it over,” San Benito head coach David Kaplansky said. “They work hard. They’re in every game. But when key possessions occur, we’re not taking care of the basketball properly.”
Turnovers were indeed part of the game Thursday for both teams — 42 combined.
It was ugly, sure. But for Gilroy, style points aren’t important in a game that pushes you one step closer to a Tri-County Athletic League title.
“This was a huge win for us. We definitely needed this, to keep us going,” said Sosa, who dropped a team-high 12 points for the Mustangs on Tuesday night, including eight in the pull-away fourth quarter.
“And we need to bring it Thursday,” she added.
Thursday, of course, could very well be for all TCAL marbles, as one-loss North Salinas (6-1 TCAL, 10-5) comes to Gilroy to face the undefeated Mustangs (8-0 TCAL, 17-1) at Bob Hagen Memorial Gymnasium.
Gilroy previously defeated North High by a 44-41 margin on Jan. 11. But following Tuesday’s battle with San Benito, which was coming off a 37-34 overtime defeat at North Salinas, the Vikings stand as the last true test on Gilroy’s remaining four-game schedule.
Sosa said the Mustangs need to come out much stronger against North High than they did against San Benito.
“We need to settle down and make good passes,” she said. “We were all over the place (Tuesday), turning it over.”
The two teams combined for 20 turnovers in the first half, in fact, yielding little offense as a result.
Each team had their chances to pull away, but neither could find that spark.
“They’re a team that can beat you any night,” Gilroy head coach Tim Jones said. “I really give them a lot of credit for taking us away from what we wanted to do …”
San Benito’s Nicole Rianda, who dropped a game-high 21 points on Tuesday, had a pretty spin move in the paint at the tail end of the opening stanza that pulled the Balers to within one point. But it was the only basket by either team over a seven-plus minute stretch that extended well into the second quarter.
“We just didn’t come out with the energy level like did with North Salinas — and that’s the way we should have come out,” Rianda said after the game. “It was a very lethargic first few quarters, and I don’t know why.”
Just before the Mustangs appeared to be pulling away midway through the third quarter, though — when Kaylana Mah made a put-back jumper in the paint to push Gilroy out to a 19-11 lead — Rianda got to the free-throw line and made 2 of 2.
Twenty seconds later, teammate Cyrena Salinas did the same, pulling the Balers to within four points. What appeared to be just a pair of routine trips to the foul line was actually the offensive spark the team needed.
“It was more like the way we got to the line,” Rianda said. “We were attacking and we weren’t backing down from their zone (defense). Everyone kind of fed off it.”
Noticing the energy change, the Balers quickly switched to a full-court trap, and closed out the third quarter on a 12-4 run, with the post-player Rianda draining a 3-pointer with 11 ticks left to knot the match at 23-all entering the final period.
Jackie Echaorre sunk a trey in the opening minute of the fourth quarter, too, pushing the Balers out to a 26-23 lead. But the host team was limited to just a single field goal over the next six minutes of action, while Gilroy pulled away behind Sosa and teammate Ashley Lambert, who deposited eight of her 11 points in the final moments, including two three-point plays — one from behind the arc and one at the foul line.
Meanwhile, Mah finished with six points while Ashlee Williams chimed in with eight points, six of which came in the paint.
“We were just sloppy and they capitalized. That was the difference,” Rianda said. “They scored buckets when they needed it and we didn’t, for the most part.”
While Gilroy’s 1-2-2 zone defense held the Balers in check for much of the game, the team’s offense doubled its output in the second half with 30 points.
“I think offensively, we were able to work the ball in and get it back out. That helped,” Jones said of the team’s inside-outside attack. “We were trying to establish that from the beginning, but we weren’t able to because they wouldn’t allow it.
“They did a really good job defensively.”
While San Benito (4-4 TCAL, 12-8) will visit Salinas Thursday to take on Notre Dame at 7 p.m., Gilroy will host North Salinas Thursday at 7 p.m.
“When we get going, that sets the team up,” Sosa said. “We want to keep going.”
Notes:
Gilroy shot 33 percent (17 of 52) from the field, 75 percent (9 of 12) from the line, and committed 22 turnovers … San Benito shot 24 percent (11 of 45) from the field, 80 percent (8 of 10) from the line, and committed 20 turnovers.
TEAM 1 2 3 4 F
GILR 8 7 8 22 45
SANB 7 2 14 12 35
Gilroy (45): A. Lambert 3-7 3-3 11, D. Hemeon 1-4 0-0 2, A. Williams 3-7 2-2 8, C. Hill 2-12 0-0 4, M. Sosa 4-11 4-5 12, K. Mah 3-9 0-2 6, E. Costa 1-2 0-0 2.
Three-point goals: A. Lambert 2.
San Benito (35): E. Burley 0-4 0-0 0, J. Echaorre 1-4 0-0 3, E. Glasspool 2-10 1-2 7, N. Rianda 7-14 5-6 21, K. Robledo 0-3 0-0 0, C. Salinas 0-6 2-2 2, M. Vallejo 1-4 0-0 2.
Three-point goals: J. Echaorre 1, E. Glasspool 2, N. Rianda 2.
