CASTROVILLE — Gilroy, meet your new Monterey Bay Pacific League champions.
The Gilroy girls basketball team clinched their first league title since winning TCAL in 2011 with a 61-46 win at North Monterey County Thursday night.
“I think we’re pretty excited,” Mustangs coach Mitchell Pierce said. “We worked hard all year to pretty much come down to last night’s game.”
Gilroy had four players score in double digits against the Condors. Adina Valencia led with 15 points, followed by Nia Pollard, Maddy Cox and Holly Lam who each added 10.
This was no easy feat given it was NMC’s Senior Night.
“The crowd definitely was in it. They were pretty amped,” Pierce said. “On our part we just went in and did what we needed to do and the girls performed excellently. We had a lot of girls come off the bench and give us good minutes last night. I think overall it was just a solid win and they played four full quarters. I couldn’t be happier with how they played last night.”
In addition to being the leading scorer, Pierce said he had to credit Valencia for her defensive effort which gave the Mustangs key turnovers when they needed them. Her performance on both sides of the ball earned her the Player of the Game honor.
Gilroy took the lead into halftime — thanks to a few big shots at the beginning — and never looked back. Once the momentum was in the Mustangs favor, they had no intention of giving it back.
Gilroy needed an Alisal loss to gain sole possession of first place. Everett Alvarez pulled off the stunner with a 64-58 win Thursday, giving the Mustangs the title outright.
“I think a lot of things came together for us as far as not only our play, but the fact that Alvarez won,” the Mustangs coach said. “We tip our hat to them, they defeated Alisal which obviously helped us out. I think overall, I think we’re just able to exhale. To come away with a title I think the girls are very happy.”
Gilroy now awaits its seeding for the CCS Tournament which will be announced Sunday. Check back with the Dispatch for updates on all the area’s playoff seedings and schedules.
“I think with CCS this is the first step. You take things one game at a time and we’ll do the same thing with CCS,” Pierce said. “The girls have been working hard all year in practice and to be able to get to where we’re at with the league championship, they should just enjoy today. Tomorrow we’ll reboot and refocus our energy toward CCS.”
