Whether on vacation or in school, the Gilroy High School student
athletes are always kept busy.
By Mandi Jo Torres
Special to the Dispatch
Whether on vacation or in school, the Gilroy High School student athletes are always kept busy.
Over the holiday break, the boys basketball team took first place in the Watsonville Holiday Tournament that was held Dec. 22-30.
In the first round, Gilroy routed North Monterey County 54-20. Ryan Costa led the Mustangs (12-3) in scoring with 12 points. Justin Wheat followed with nine points. In the second round, the Mustangs ripped Watsonville 56-21. With 13 different players scoring, Wheat led with 10 points. In the semifinals, Gilroy defeated Salinas 70-51. Stephen Galtman and Wheat combined for 35 points and 20 rebounds.
With three games won, Gilroy went against Aptos in the title game. The Mustangs fell behind, but Jamie Jensen and Kendrick Azcueta hit key 3-pointers to bring Gilroy back in a 53-48 win. Costa led with 12 points. Azcueta and Wheat had 11 with Jamie Jensen adding 10 points.
On Wednesday, Gilroy had a scare in the last seconds of its game against Palma. Up by two in their first league game of the season, the Mustangs held the Chieftains from scoring during the final 50 seconds of the game. Palma’s Paul Marcroft let loose with a long shot after the buzzer that swished from the Mustangs side of the court. After a straining minute of discussing the shot, the referees declared the Mustangs winners, saying the shot was taken too late.
GHS coach Jay Baksa said, “We were lucky.” Costa agan led Gilroy with 12 points followed by Wheat with 10.
The freshman boys came up just short in their game, falling to Palma 40-39.
“Our kids play really hard and they never give up,” coach Eddie Pollack said.
Max Fisher led the Mustangs with 11 points, Christos Louvis had 10 and Dolapo Opere had 10 rebounds.
The GHS girls JV basketball team fell short in their league opener against Notre Dame, 31-27. The Mustangs took a 27-25 lead late in the fourth quarter but the Spirits got a four-point play with 1:01 left and scored the final six points.
“They played their hearts out,” said co-coach, Laura Hennesse, about her players, “And that’s all I could ask for.”
Breana Mah led the scoring with 10 points.
The unbeaten freshmen girls basketball team got off to a flying start against Notre Dame. The Mustangs (7-0) won 41-22 as Geralyn Moon led the scoring with 10 points. Lindsey Foster had seven points, six assists and five steals.
“Notre Dame put a lot of defensive pressure on us in the first half,” coach Melissa Noto said.
Notre Dame coach Pete Benavente said, “We played well in the first half. In the second half, we just ran out of juice.”
The boys JV soccer team played to a 3-3 tie with Burlingame. Hector Salgado scored twice for the Mustangs.
The wrestling opened its TCAL season with a 27-9 win. Five wrestlers had pins — Nick Ahmadkhani, 112; Rodney Balajadia, 119; Adam Rosso, 135; and Luis Barragon, heavweight. Justin Blankenship, 160, also won his match with 6-3 win. The JVs will compete in a varsity tournament today in Cupertino.
