Gilroy opens today against Notre Dame
Gilroy – There is little resemblance between this year’s Gilroy girls basketball team and the one last year that scored points in bunches.
This group of Mustangs relies more on defense and patience than last year’s team that had veteran guards and the ability to score from all over the court.
While nobody expects GHS to dominate the Tri-County Athletic League like last year, these Mustangs are expected to be in the thick of the race. It begins at 7pm today when Gilroy hosts Notre Dame.
The rest of the TCAL opens tonight as well. North Salinas, led by the high-scoring senior duo of Briana Matthews and Dominique Hill, figures to contend for the title. Hill had a huge game for the Vikings with 26 points and 13 rebounds in a 71-45 win over Pacific Grove that gave North Salinas the most wins (nine) among TCAL teams entering the league.
Salinas is led by 5-5 junior guard Mia Musones. San Benito enters league play on a high after winning two of its last three games, led by sophomore guard Vanessa Farias.
GHS beat Notre Dame three times last year, including in the final of the Mustang Classic. It was a breakthrough of sorts since the Spirits had dominated the Mustangs in previous seasons. These two teams have won the last three TCAL titles with Gilroy breezing through the league unbeaten last year and Notre Dame winning it the previous two years.
There are some similarities between this year’s team and last year’s squad. Like the 2005-06 team, this year’s squad enters the league season with three losses after going 1-2 during a tough holiday tournament.
The opener against Notre Dame pits two teams that have each won eight games. The Spirits, however, have played three more games. They have four girls –Vanessa Ruiz, Lyncee Mendalla, Lauren Schutzler and Nathalie Godoy averaging between seven and 10 points a game.
Gilroy welcomes back Amanda Spellman from the injured list. The 5-7 junior missed significant time because of an ankle injury. But now Stephanie Solorio is out with an injured ankle. Thus, coach James Wilkins has added two junior varsity players to his roster – Kristy Pineda and Sovi Nou.
While the Mustangs didn’t fare well in the Archbishop Mitty Classic, Wilkins felt the girls learned plenty in the tournament, particularly after the first-round blowout loss to St. Francis.
“I thought we competed with Valley Christian but we only had seven girls and we ran out of gas,” Wilkins said of the 36-24 defeat. “Angela Silveria had her best game of the season (13 points and 10 rebounds) against Sequoia and Dana Schoeneman (12 points, 23 rebounds) did a great job especially off the offensive boards.”
Schoeneman is the only GHS player averaging in double figures at 10 points a game. The Mustangs rely on defense, holding nine of 11 opponents to 40 points or less.
