Suffocating defense left Notre Dame no chance of gaining a
victory on the road Wednesday night, as the Gilroy High girls’
basketball team dominated from start to finish, winning the
Tri-County Athletic League contest 71-23.
GILROY – Suffocating defense left Notre Dame no chance of gaining a victory on the road Wednesday night, as the Gilroy High girls’ basketball team dominated from start to finish, winning the Tri-County Athletic League contest 71-23.
The Spirits committed 36 turnovers in the contest, setting up several stretches in which Gilroy’s offense resembled a layup drill.
“I thought it was going to be a better game than it was,” Mustangs coach Susan Shapiro said. “I told the girls they needed to play four quarters, and they did.”
Gilroy’s Sovi Nou scored a game-high 17 points to go with nine steals and three assists, drawing praise from her coach.
“She had a great game,” Shapiro said, adding that the win could be credited to an all-around team performance that would have made the Mustangs competitive against teams of almost any caliber.
“We could have played North Salinas tonight and won,” Shapiro said.
North Salinas (4-1 as of Tuesday) and San Benito (6-0) are the only two teams to have beaten the Mustangs (4-2) in league play this season.
Jumping out to a 16-5 lead by the end of the first quarter, Gilroy (12-8 overall) kept the pressure high by playing a zone full-court press to pick off passes or force the Notre Dame ballhandlers into mistakes. The result was a 35-15 Mustangs lead at halftime.
Gilroy dropped back into a halfcourt trap for most of the second half, but expanded its lead in a similar manner, outscoring the Spirits 36-8 in the final two quarters.
Jennifer Rose was second in scoring for Gilroy with 11 points, Lindsey Foster and Chelsea Hill both had eight, and Laura Steele, Kristy Pineda, Lauren Rhodes and Ashley Lambert all had six.
Steele and Hill both had five rebounds, while Foster added six rebounds and four steals.
Other GHS scorers included Kristen Costa and Michelle Sosa with two points each, and Demornay Granados with one.
Notre Dame (5-14 overall, 2-4 TCAL) was led in scoring by Shanae Gasperson’s seven points.
Gilroy’s next game will be Friday at 7 p.m. at Alisal.
