Gilroy
– It may not have been one of the Gilroy girls’ shining moments
during an 18-win season.
Gilroy – It may not have been one of the Gilroy girls’ shining moments during an 18-win season.
However, as GHS assistant coach Ana Patejdl aptly put it, “At this point of the season, a win is still a win, ugly or pretty.”
One thing is certain after Gilroy’s 40-38 win over Homestead in the opening game Wednesday of a Central Coast Section Division I girl-boy doubleheader at Bob Hagen Memorial Gym.
GHS will get another shot at Carlmont, the team that knocked it out of the CCS playoffs last season. The top-seeded Scots got a first-round bye and will face Gilroy at 2:45pm Saturday at Milpitas High School.
Gilroy’s first-round CCS game was a study in contrasts. The second quarter was GHS at its best. The fourth quarter was Gilroy in survival mode.
After falling behind by five points after the opening quarter, GHS used a 19-3 second quarter to assume control of the game. Gilroy (18-6) scored the first 15 points of the quarter with Angela Silveira and Amanda Spellman leading the offensive charge. Defensively, GHS held Homestead (14-11) scoreless until Desiree Prevo hit a foul shot with 1:32 left. Gilroy led 26-15 at halftime.
With Dana Schoeneman and Spellman combining for the first six points of the third quarter, Gilroy extended its advantage to 32-15. But Homestead was far from through.
Kate Mowrer tossed in seven of her 10 points during an 11-point run that got Homestead within 32-26. Dana Wilkins and Russhelle Preeshl scored baskets that pushed the lead back to 10. But only Silveira scored for GHS in the last nine minutes of the game, and no GHS girl scored during the final 4:27.
“We need to focus on shutting the door,” said Spellman, who had her best offensive game of the season with 10 points. “When we have the lead, we need to shut the door. It’s all about maturity. We have four girls who played in the CCS (last year). It’s a whole different ballgame. This is a step up and people need to accept the challenge.”
Schoeneman had 11 points and 12 rebounds, Silveira had 11 points and 11 rebounds, and Vanessa Wilkins had 10 rebounds, six steals and four assists.
On the flip side, Gilroy turned the ball over 15 times in the fourth quarter and had just eight shots at the basket. Some of it had to do with the man-to-man pressure defense applied by Homestead.
“We were aware of how we put ourselves in that position,” Homestead coach Ruby Gulapa-Ngo said. “We were aware we had to get out of it. We figured if we went aggressively to the hoop we could get calls and get to the lead. Our lack of intensity and their (second-period) shooting put us in a hole.”
Gilroy shot 9 of 16 in the second quarter after opening 2 of 15. GHS protected the ball, turning the ball over just six times in the first half, and had a 27-17 halftime advantage.
But it all changed in the second half.
“At least we got the win,” Spellman said. “This game was totally a learning experience. We have to take this to heart and learn from the mistakes we made.”
Homestead (38)-Kim 4, Morita 2, Chan 4, Prevo 9, Blazensky 8, Mowrer 10, Loutit 0. Totals 14 9-15 38.
Gilroy (40)-Tabilas 0, Schoeneman 11, A. Spellman 10, L. Spellman 0, Wilkins 4, Foster 0, Preeshl 4, Silveira 11, Magill 0. Totals 17 6-13 40.
Homestead 12 3 13 10 – 38
Gilroy 7 19 10 4 – 40
3-point goals: HOM, Mowrer.
