MORGAN HILL—Live Oak captain Amy Gunther said she’s more an assist player, but that didn’t stop her from knocking down baskets all night long.
Gunther led the Acorns with 22 points—including three 3-pointers—en route to a 51-36 victory over Gilroy at home Tuesday. The win snapped a two-game losing streak for Live Oak.
“These are the last two games (before league) are really vital,” Gunther said. “This game, we know a couple people on the (other) team from middle school, so it was kind of fun to see them back. Overall, it was kind of back and forth game. Finally at the end we were like ‘we need to pick it up, we need to start doing something’.”
The Mustangs, who had three starters sit out the first quarter, trailed all game, but found some momentum in the final frame. Nia Pollard opened the fourth with a lay-up and a pair of freethrows from Jackie Morales cut the Acorns’ lead to 37-29. Gilroy stepped up the intensity on defense and didn’t allow Live Oak a point until the five-minute mark.
The momentum was in Gilroy’s favor and Sarah Weiby picked up a big steal, but missed her shot. Luckily for the Mustangs, Pollard was there to get the rebound and put back to cut Live Oak’s lead to 40-32—the closest Gilroy had been since trailing 16-10 to end the first quarter.
Everything changed just moments later when Live Oak picked up five quick points off a freethrow and then rebound basket from Grace Smith. Courtney Sykes add two more and the Acorns jumped ahead 45-32 with 1:21 remaining.
Weiby scored the final two baskets for Gilroy after grabbing the rebounds, but it wasn’t enough to lift her team to victory.
Weiby was stellar on defense for Gilroy. She led the team with 10 rebounds in addition to three steals and six points.
“Coach always tells me to sit down and stay with my man, so that was kind of what I was thinking: stay with my man and do my job,” she said.
Weiby, Pollard and Morales all sat out the first quarter and had to watch as the Acorns built a lead that their team could never recover from.
Live Oak didn’t allow Gilroy a basket until Adina Valencia scored with 5:55 remaining in the first. By that time, the Acorns already led 9-2. Gilroy would score again, but the Acorns answered with four straight points to lead 13-4. Moments later Gunther hit her first 3 of the game and Athena Valencia answered with a basket for Gilroy. Andrea Gracia scored the final points for the Mustangs as they trailed 16-10 to end the first.
“We sort of started the game out a little bit hobbled. …I think we started out and lost momentum really quick,” Gilroy coach Mitchell Pierce said. “Unfortunately got into a deficit early on and were trying to fight out of a hole the whole game. I think we played a better second half. …. I think we showed some character; I think we fought back in the second half.”
Fouls plagued the Mustangs all game and Live Oak took full advantage of them. Gilroy finished with 21 in the game and sent the Acorns to the line 27 times. They knocked down 15 of their freethrows and Gunther was a perfect 7 for 7 from the line.
The Mustangs were held to just six points in the second quarter, but Pollard gave her team some momentum hitting a 3-pointer with under 30 seconds left in the half.
Pollard led the team with 13 points. She also had eight rebounds and two steals.
Live Oak took a 27-16 lead into the locker room, but Live Oak coach Mike Kiefer said he told his team not to let up after the break.
“Halftime mentality is always 0-0,” he said. “When we go in, the first thing we put on the board is always 0-0 and if we want the game, it has to be the third quarter. …If we come out intense, we have a chance to seal the victory. If we come out flat and miss a couple of shots then things start to turn and things start to go the way we don’t want them to go.”
Live Oak delivered the intensity its coach wanted, opening the second half with a 3-pointer from Gunther. A miscue late let the Acorns’ ball roll of bounds and Gilroy looked to capitalize on that, but a steal from Fayth Lyons set-up another shot from Gunther which helped put her team up 37-25 at the end of the quarter.
Lyons finished with six rebounds, two steals and five points for Live Oak. Julieanna Blotz was a force on defense, racking up 10 rebounds in addition to seven points for Live Oak.
The Acorns (6-3) will play at 1:30 p.m. today at Santa Clara before opening league play against Leigh at 7 p.m. Jan. 6 at home.
“When we come away from every game, we have the belief that we can learn something—whether it’s a win or it’s a loss,” Kiefer said. “After each game, we put on the board what we need to do get better for the next contest. There’s a whole list of things we’ll be getting back to for our next practice.”
Gilroy (6-4) will host Carmel at 4 p.m. Saturday and opens league play at Salinas at 7 p.m. Jan. 6.
The Mustangs are looking forward to their rematch with Carmel, having lost to the Padres by a single point in their last two meetings.
“I never question our effort. Our effort is always there, but I think sometimes we can play smarter,” Pierce said. When we do that and work together, things work out well. … Being able to run the floor and execute our defense I think is key for that game. We’re going to focus on doing that. We’ve been beaten by Carmel the last two times by one point, so we’re hoping to be on the winning side this time.”
