Younger hoopsters gain experience without captains, finish 1-2
in Lady Mustang Classic
GILROY – The Lady Mustang Classic at Gilroy High School quickly became a showcase of the younger garlic hoopsters since senior captains Sarah Hoeft and Sarah Miller did not step on the floor for any of the team’s three games.
Without Hoeft, who returned from vacation in time for Saturday’s consolation championship but did not play, and Miller, who was fighting the flu bug, Gilroy was forced to field a starting line-up of one senior, two juniors, and two sophomores.
“Without having the two main players, that means two people or all of them got Sarah Hoeft and Sarah Miller’s playing time and that’s about 20 to 25 minutes of basketball that they all got to share and play in that they wouldn’t get,” head coach Kari Williams said. “It’s not going to be there because I’m anticipating (Hoeft and Miller) to step in and play basketball and they’re going to be in there for that time.”
After an opening 46-40 loss to North County on Thursday, the Lady Mustangs rallied to a 38-34 victory over Gunderson to reach the consolation championship. In Saturday’s matinee, Gilroy could not make it two straight – surrendering to Soledad, 53-45.
“I think it was great (for the younger players to get the experience). It’s tough to take the loss, but it’s just something we had to do,” said Williams, following Saturday’s consolation loss. “We look brilliant for flashes and then it was back to coming down here and throwing the ball away.”
Although the Lady Mustangs did suffer through elongated scoring droughts and poor passing decisions in all three games, they showed signs on what their bright future holds when Hoeft and Miller return to the lineup.
The all-sophomore backcourt of point guard Kristen Campos and two guard Marissa Nowakowski were solid throughout the tournament – demonstrating that they can handle the varsity game in only their first seasons.
“They were great. I’m very happy with them, the two sophomores,” Williams said. “Marissa Nowakowski did an excellent job this tournament. … and probably the one person on the team who played consistent all three games.”
Nowakowski led the Lady Mustangs in scoring in two of three games – finishing with 10 against North County and 13 against Soledad along with six in the win over Gunderson. If there was a go-to player on the offensive end, Nowakowski was it.
Campos played a steady point, running the Lady Mustang offense. She netted a team-high eight points, all in the second half, against Gunderson and put up eight first-quarter points versus Soledad and five in the opening loss to North County.
“Campos has a lot of responsibility and she’s doing a good job with that,” Williams said. “She’s learning as she goes.”
Juniors Kendall Costa (seven points vs. NMC, six vs. Gunderson, three vs. Soledad) and Michelle DiFiore (two vs. NMC, four vs. Gunderson, 11 vs. Soledad) as well as sophomore Catherine Hussey (six vs. NMC, six vs. Gunderson, two vs. Soledad) and senior Antoinette Okere (two vs. NMC, six vs. Gunderson, six vs. Soledad) all made the most of their extended playing time.
“Hussey made some great moves and she’s going to be a scoring threat for us and it’s just going to be everybody getting comfortable. It’s the fourth game of the season, not the way I’d like to be playing it, but we’re still without our whole team,” Williams said. “We’re going to be fine. I told them not to sweat this. We’re going to go play next week and it’s going to be a whole different story.”
The Lady Mustangs (1-3 overall) got better play in each game of the tournament and put forth their best effort in the opening quarter of Saturday’s consolation finals against Soledad. But a turnover-filled second quarter put Gilroy behind 28-21 at the half.
“My people who came in off the bench were not the spark that I needed them to be tonight. We kinda went flat with our substitutions,” Williams said. “That’s just going to come, I think, with time and experience and me figuring out what the best combination is on the floor and who works with who.”
The seven-point spread remained at the end of the third quarter with the Lady Mustangs trailing, 41-34. Nowakowski’s lay-up cut the gap to six in the fourth frame, but that was the closest Gilroy would come, falling behind by 10 with three minutes remaining. Two straight DiFiore buckets trimmed the spread to six with 1:09 left, but the teams exchanged jumpers to close out the contest.
“We’re watching the ball go up and, as soon as we see maybe it’s a missed shot, I have people running and jumping at the ball. That’s not what we do. We didn’t box them out,” Williams said. “When you let a team shoot three or four times on their side, they’re going to score and that’s what happened.
“They were shooting long shots and my girls were running under the basket to get a rebound rather than boxing out,” the second-year coach added. “Then the other team got it and got to shoot again and again and that’s how they scored. We were getting one shot and no rebounds down here.”
The right combination of players proved effective in Friday’s encouraging win over Gunderson. The Lady Mustangs led by four at the break behind six first-half points from Okere and they maintained that going into the fourth quarter ahead 26-20.
Gunderson threatened, coming within one at 28-27, but four consecutive buckets from Campos extended the Gilroy lead to 36-27 with 3:24 remaining. The Lady Mustangs then fended off a late 7-2 run by Gunderson to win their only game of the tournament.
“Scoring is still an issue for us right now,” Williams said. “We had a lot of good shots taken that didn’t go in.”
The Lady Mustangs will hit the road for the rest of their non-league schedule as they compete in the Pacific Grove Invitational Dec. 11-13 and then the Burlingame Tournament Dec. 17-19. Gilroy does not return until its Jan. 16 league game against Salinas at 7 p.m.
