Mustangs clinch tie for league title with trouncing win at
home
Gilroy – There was a slow start, followed by uncharacteristic turnovers and sloppy passing.
But even Gilroy’s not-so-pretty performance against North Salinas Friday was enough to earn the Mustang boys basketball team at least a piece of the Tri-County Athletic League title.
Gilroy trailed the Vikings, the only winless team in the TCAL, by a point in the first quarter. But the Mustangs took over the lead in the second and would stay ahead to eventually win 69-53.
Junior guard Kameron Handy led Gilroy with 17 points. Seniors Ryan Chisolm (14 points), Vinny DeLorenzo (9 points), Jeremy Teschera (8 points) and Dominik Wilkins (6 points) also contributed.
The game was the centerpiece of Gilroy High’s basketball Homecoming. For the occasion, Bob Hagen Gymnasium was decorated from floor to ceiling with large sheets of butcher paper that had messages of well-wishes for the players, including six large sheets that had caricatures drawn on them of the six Gilroy seniors. And just for the game, four of the seniors – Christian Cania, Chisolm, Teschera and Wilkins – had their hair done in corn rows.
But despite the energy of the atmosphere, Gilroy, fresh from having its perfect TCAL record broken at Palma Thursday, came out flat and allowed North Salinas (2-21, 0-10 TCAL) to stay.
“I think we kind of came out too into ourselves, really,” Teschera said. “I mean, I’m gonna be honest, we came out with big heads thinking it’s Homecoming and we’re going to coast through this game to get the TCAL title.”
Eight first-quarter turnovers prevented the Mustangs from getting an offensive rhythm going in the first eight minutes.
But Gilroy (18-7, 9-1 TCAL) took care of the ball better in the second quarter and outscored the Vikings 9-4 in the last two minutes of the half. Chisolm went up strong on a putback attempt, but converted while being fouled to make it 27-21 Gilroy. He completed the three-point play with a free throw. After North Salinas’ Ervin Rosario-Dawson made two free throws of his own at the other end, Wilkins answered with a three-pointer. A couple possessions later, junior Frankie Tomasetti finished a fastbreak lay-up while being fouled in traffic with seven seconds until the half. He completed the three-point play, giving Gilroy a 34-25 lead at the break.
The Mustangs never relinquished the sizable lead in the second half of play.
On Thursday night, the Gilroy girls basketball team also clinched at least a part of the TCAL title. So the boys’ win Friday night rounded out the all-Gilroy sweep on both sides of the sport – for the first time in school history.
“At least the pressure’s taken off our backs now,” said Wilkins, who watched his sister Vanessa, a sophomore on the girls’ team, return home the night before after clinching the title with the girls team. “We’re TCAL champs, but we want to go beyond that.”
Second-place Palma has three losses, which means a win against Salinas Wednesday on Senior Day can win the title outright for the Mustangs. And Gilroy head coach Bud Ogden won’t accept his first league title at Gilroy any other way.
“I won’t consider it a title if it’s a tie,” he said.
Gilroy 69, N. Salinas 53
North Salinas 8 17 12 16 -53
Gilroy 7 27 18 17 -69
Gilroy (18-7, 9-1); North Salinas (2-21, 0-11)
Gilroy JV Cruises
The Gilroy boys JV team extended its own TCAL record to 9-1 with a 69-44 win over North Salinas Friday. Leading the 23-3 Mustangs were Marshad Johnson (18 points, 16 rebounds), Ben Wilson (12 points, 9 rebounds) and Stephan Galtman (10 points, 8 rebounds).
