‘Stangs get contributions from all over in first league win
Sitting at 0-4 in the Tri-County Athletic League, the Gilroy boys’ basketball team needed no reminder as to the importance of Tuesday’s home game against Salinas.
“We needed it desperately,” junior post Ryan Chisolm said. “If we had lost today and gone 0-5, it would not have been good. We might have gone in the toilet the rest of the way.”
No need for any air freshener.
Instead, the Mustangs flushed away Salinas with a convincing 58-41 victory.
“It was not only a feel-good win,” GHS assistant coach James Wilkins said, “but we did a lot of good things, too.”
Gilroy was seemingly firing on all cylinders – starting with the defense.
The Salinas backcourt of Kelly McCarty (18.5 ppg) and Adrian Cryder (14.3) came in averaging just under 33 points a game. The pair left the gym with just a dozen.
Cryder connected on just one shot, while All-TCAL selection McCarty hit only two, the first of which was the lone Cowboy basket of the first quarter.
In the first half, Gilroy held Salinas (12-9/2-3) to a mere 12 points while going on a 23-5 run and taking an 18-point lead into the break.
“Our defense was just more intense than it has been,” GHS guard Adam Supnet said. “We just connected. Played well together.”
Supnet wasn’t bad himself.
The senior scored 14 points, hit the team’s only two 3s and even added a few steals.
He shared the team scoring lead with Chisolm, who scored half of his 14 when his team was in desperate need of a spark.
After Salinas went on a 12-2 run to cut a 21-point deficit to just nine early in the fourth quarter, Chisolm delivered seven straight points for Gilroy (12-11/1-4).
Chisolm, along with senior center Mark Kennedy, also added six rebounds.
“They made a run and we withstood it … finally,” Chisolm said. “We hit our shots tonight.”
Nobody more than seldom-used senior Steven Good.
The 6-foot-4 forward was inserted in the second quarter and immediately made an impact, hitting the boards and scoring two baskets right away.
Then he came in during the third and connected on three straight shots, scoring Gilroy’s only points in the last five minutes of the quarter.
“Athletics is not really my thing,” said Good, who focuses much of his time on his church and his singing. “So when I go in there, I just try to do my hardest and help the team.
With his scrappiness and 5-for-6 shooting, he did just that.
“He was amazing,” Chisolm said. “He works so hard in practice. Actually we don’t really like practicing against him, because he’s all over the place, swinging those elbows.
“But as long as it’s against the other team,” he added with a smile, “that’s fine with us.”
Fine with Wilkins, too.
“What a great kid,” the third-year assistant said of Good. “He comes to practice, practices hard, listens to everything we say … he deserves an opportunity like this.”
For Good, it was all about the victory.
“It was a very necessary win,” he said. “Before the game, coach (Bud) Odgen said this was a six-game season, and that we needed to win every one of them to get to CCS.”
Tuesday was a good start.
Game No. 2 comes Thursday night at Hollister.
“This was big,” Supnet said. “Now hopefully we can carry some of this momentum to San Benito.”
1st 2nd 3rd 4th
SHS 5 7 16 13
GHS 11 19 13 13
GHS (12-11/1-4)
Jackson 2 1-3 5, Chisolm 5 4-6 14, Kretz 2 3-4 7, Moon 2 0-0 4, Supnet 4 4-4 14, Good 5 0-0 10, Kennedy 1 0-0 2,
3-pointers: Supnet (2)
Free-throws: 12-17
SALINAS (12-9/2-3)
McCarty 2 5-7 9, Cryder 1 1-2 3, LaBrier 1 1-2 3, Svendsen 2 0-1 4, Romoza 4 0-3 8, Ish 2 0-0 6, Ng 4 1-2 10
3-pointers: Ish (2), Ng
Free-throws: 8-17
Rebounds: GHS 24, SHS 23
Turnovers: GHS 11, SHS 16
