Gilroy High’s boys basketball team earned its fourth straight
win Thursday night, beating visiting Alisal 35-33 to keep pace at
second place in the Tri-County Athletic League.
GILROY – Gilroy High’s boys basketball team earned its fourth straight win Thursday night, beating visiting Alisal 35-33 to keep pace at second place in the Tri-County Athletic League.
Steady man-to-man pressure by the Mustangs kept one of the best scoring teams in the league in check for four quarters, while clutch free-throw shooting sealed the game.
With the win the Mustangs improved to 13-8 on the season, 4-3 in league. Alisal dropped to 15-6 overall, 3-4 TCAL.
Unable to get much going offensively, Gilroy turned to forward Dolapo Opere to provide a spark off the bench. He finished the game with a team-high 12 points and 10 rebounds.
“We were getting good looks on offense,” Gilroy coach Jeremy Dirks said. “We just couldn’t make a bucket.
“Dolapo was huge for us coming off the bench.”
Greg Hamik (nine points, five rebounds) and Tyler Hartman (three points) both hit big free throws to help the Mustangs outscore Alisal 12-7 in the final period, while Michael Aldridge (two points) put forth an excellent defensive effort, holding the Trojans’ Michael Ramirez to three points.
Ramirez was averaging just less than 15 points per game entering the contest and scored 21 in a 53-48 win over Gilroy on Jan. 6.
Gilroy scored just four points in the first quarter Thursday and trailed 15-12 at halftime. An even third quarter in which both teams scored 11 set up a fourth quarter in which Gilroy had to be even stingier on defense.
“It was just an unbelievable effort,” Dirks said. “We held a high-scoring team to 33 points so our defense was obviously pretty good.”
Gilroy’s Elijah Harrell had seven points, four assist and four rebounds, and Jamie Jensen added a bucket and five rebounds.
Switching to more man-to-man defense instead of a 2-3 zone in recent games has translated to a more aggressive Gilroy squad on the defensive end. The Mustangs are allowing just 43 points per game in their last four.
“Basically, I think the guys just realized team basketball is going to win it,” Dirks said. “Not that they were selfish before, but they’re giving everything of themselves for a total team effort.”
Just two games behind the league-leading Palma Chieftains, who Gilroy beat 48-42 earlier in the week and will play in the regular season finale, the Mustangs are thinking a TCAL title could be within reach.
“A league championship, we would love it,” Dirks said. “It would be a dream come true, for the kids and me as a first-year coach.”
He added that the focus will need to stay the same, though.
“Monday we got Salinas. Palma is five games from now.”
Gilroy will tip-off with the Salinas Cowboys at 7 p.m.
