Hennessee nets team-high 23 points in pivotal 60-55 victory over
Salinas.
GILROY – Senior Laura Hennessee was ready.
Her Lady Mustang teammates were ready as well.
Friday night’s home Tri-County Athletic League game against Salinas – which had won the first meeting Jan. 16. on its home court – meant everything for the Gilroy High girls basketball team. Sitting at 2-3 in T-CAL coming in, the Lady Mustangs needed the ‘W’ and needed it in a bad way.
“We were pumped. We were ready for this one,” said Hennessee, who led the Lady Mustangs to a critical 60-55 victory with a team-high 23 points and a bunch of steals. “We came out and we knew what we had to do and we did what we had to do and that’s what happens – you win.”
Hennessee was not the only one who stepped up their game big-time as seniors Jenn Olvera (15 points) and Danell Dow (eight points), and juniors Sarah Hoeft (10 points) and Sarah Miller (four points) all played important roles in the Lady Mustangs’ latest victory.
Salinas, however, did not make it easy on them.
With 2:18 remaining in the fourth quarter and Gilroy ahead by 11, the Lady Cowboys caught fire from beyond the arc – draining three consecutive three-pointers.
“It kinda got scary in the end, but I had confidence that we were going to pull through,” Olvera said. “We were really upset the last time we played them so we came out ready to win.”
On the Lady Cowboys’ second straight trey, Hennessee answered by hitting both of her free throws to make it a six-point ball game with 20 seconds left.
“Laura Hennessee, what a performance – 23 points, took care of the ball, stole the ball, took charge, wanted the ball at the end, was like, ‘yeah, come foul me I’m gonna shoot the free throws no problem,” first-year head coach Kari Williams said.
Salinas then came right down and sank another trifecta to cut the gap to three with 12 ticks remaining.
Coming out of a time-out, Dow made the pass of the night – going long over the heads of all the Lady Cowboys and to Hoeft for an uncontested lay-in that sealed the game.
“Danell Dow, thank you water polo. How was that pass at the end for the layup? We’ll take that,” Williams said. “I let the girls play a little football at practice yesterday. We warmed up playing a little catch football so now they tell me that’s why she got to throw that pass.”
Dow’s long bomb and clutch free throw shooting down the stretch allowed Gilroy to stay ahead – despite Salinas’ late three-point flurry.
“That’s what won the game for us. They came back and hit those three-pointers at the end and without our free throws we would have been down,” Hennessee said. “Free throws, everyone did excellent on those. It’s just concentration and everybody really concentrated. That’s what we work on in practice.”
After trimming down their five-point halftime deficit to one by the end of the third quarter, the Lady Mustangs came out running on all cylinders for the final eight minutes.
“We just talked in our little huddle and we were just, ‘ladies, this is it. We need a full quarter of just heart.’ We just came out there and gave it our heart,” Hennessee said. “It feels great. It’s a little winning streak so we’re ready for the next.”
Up next, Gilroy (3-3 in T-CAL) will play host Tuesday to rival Hollister at 7 p.m. in another pivotal league contest.
“It’s our homecoming. We won a two-point game with them over there. It’s going to be a good game. You want to see good girls basketball get in the gym now,” Williams said. “This is big. This is for us to get into CCS. This is to set our standing for league and all of them are going to be good games for the rest of the season.”
The Lady Mustangs played their best game yet Friday night against Salinas – taking command early in the first quarter with an aggressive halfcourt trap that resulted in several steals and lay-ins.
“I wasn’t hitting any outside shots so I knew I had to play defense,” said Hennessee, who tallied four of Gilroy’s seven first-quarter steals. “When they would bring the ball down the court, I could see that they were dribbling it high. They were doing crossovers right in front of me. Might as well just take it from them.”
At the end of one, Gilroy was ahead 15-10. But in the second quarter, Salinas started getting second and third shot opportunities – eventually taking a five-point lead into the locker room.
“The girls, I just kept asking them to box out and I said box out even further. Where ever they had them out, they were still able to reach over,” Williams said. “We had to step it out even further and get them further away from the rebound.”
In the third quarter, Gilroy neutralized the Lady Cowboys’ height advantage and then pulled away in the final quarter.
“We had it all the way. We were so pumped. We were all hyped before the game and it just kept through the whole game. If we play like this the whole rest of the season, we’ll come out on top every time,” Miller said. “We just kept up the intensity and that’s what we need from everybody. It was awesome.”
Afterwards, the Lady Mustangs were full of smiles and celebration. With the gymnasium nearly emptied out, Hoeft listened to her walkman as she gave her victory dance in the paint of one basket.
“The girls were being basketball players today. They were using the clock. We took good shots. We weren’t just throwing the ball up there. We did everything we needed,” Williams said. “This is huge. This is back-to-back wins for us. It’s been a while since we did that. We win on our home court and we beat a team that intimidated us when we played them the first time.
“We were ready to play basketball and they didn’t do anything that seemed to fluster the girls,” the coach added. “Our turnovers were so limited as far as what we’ve been doing in the past. We really took care of the ball tonight. I couldn’t be prouder of the girls.”
