Both the boys and girls GHS basketball teams are off to good
starts at their respective tournaments.
GILROY – The Gilroy High girls varsity basketball team went into the Christmas holiday break with a two-game losing streak.
However, the Mustangs immediately halted that backward slide with two-straight victories to open up the 11th annual Seaside Sweet 16 Holiday Tournament, which began Saturday in Seaside.
The Lady Mustangs defeated Soquel 47-33 behind a team-high 10-point effort from Dani Hemeon, which was proceeded by a 49-45 win against Aptos in round one.
With the two wins, the Lady Mustangs move to 7-3 on the year.
Monday’s game against Soquel was the second time in as many weeks the two squads squared off. The Knights handed the Lady Mustangs a 55-33 loss in the first meeting.
“We just shot the ball a heck of a lot better and we were making quite a few wide-open jump shots that we had missed in the first game,” head coach Tim Jones said. “We also defended a lot better against them. We made some defensive adjustments. Those two things combined I think gave us the win today.”
The Lady Mustangs had been struggling from the floor during the two-game losing streak and Jones said that that was a point of emphasis in preparation for the tournament.
“We definitely made that one of our major focuses,” he said. “We worked a lot on shooting the ball. I mean, a lot. It’s one of those things where you can work on it and work on it, but if the players don’t have confidence in their ability to shoot, they will never shoot well. We adapted a different mentality and we are much more confident.”
Senior Sovi Nou had nine points Monday and juniors Lauren Rhodes and Chelsea Hill had seven apiece.
“Hill and Laura Steele did a great job rebounding for us especially in the second half,” Jones said.
“Soquel has at least two girls who are 6-foot tall and they did a great job of boxing them out and controlling the boards for us.”
Hill led the way in the first-round win over Aptos – another familiar foe – with 16 points and senior Lindsey Foster contributed 11 for GHS.
“It was one of those back-and-forth games where nobody really controlled it,” Jones said.
“We went up by six points with three minutes to go. We held on for dear life and ended up winning it.”
Gilroy’s opponent for tonight’s semifinals was unavailable at press time.
GHS boys open up Bulldog Chase Tourney with win
Needless to say , with an 8-2 record so far, the Mustangs are off to a positive start this season.
Gilroy carried its up-tempo, defensive-minded game plan into the Bulldog Chase Tournament where it easily thumped Santa Clara High School 76-38 in the opening round Monday night it Morgan Hill.
“I am very happy with the win,” head coach Jeremy Dirks said. “I played my reserves early.”
The Mustangs hadn’t played since a Dec. 19 loss to Harbor in the finals of the Bob Hagen Memorial Tournament.
Before the loss the Mustangs were in the midst of a four-game winning streak.
“It’s been long enough now,” Dirks said about the loss to Harbor 10 days ago. They are resilient.”
The Mustangs took little time in putting away Santa Clara on Monday. Senior Greg Hamik scored 11 points to go along with six assists in limited action.
“I think he only played a little more than a quarter,” Dirks said.
Starting point guard Andrel Gaines chipped in 11 points in spot duty.
Chris Catanzaro poured in a team-high 14 points off the bench for the Mustangs.
Junior Cameron Harrell saw considerable action as well, contributing six points to go along with six steals and five assists.
“Since I have been coaching, we have had a bunch of second-place finishes,” Dirks said. “I think a tournament championship will mean a lot to the guys.”
The Mustangs will most likely face host Sobrato in the second round tonight.
Regardless of the opponent, game time is set for 7:30 in Morgan Hill.
