High intensity and full-court pressure by the North Salinas defense limited Gilroy to 25 points on its 75-25 loss Thursday night.
Gilroy had a hard time getting any kind of offensive rhythm in a game where it seemed the Viking defense was not willing to give up a single point.
Adina Valencia scored the only two points for Gilroy in the first quarter via the free throw line after she was fouled on a 3-point attempt. The Mustangs had just four field goal attempts for the quarter.
On the other side of the court, the Vikings were taking advantage of the Mustangs’ turnovers and kept scoring on bunches. They scored 25 unanswered points after Gilroy got on the board in the first quarter to take a commanding lead of 32-2.
“They (have) a very pressure-oriented defense and they do a good job at it,” Gilroy coach Mitch Pierce said.
On the second quarter Gilroy tightened up its defense and forced North Salinas to shoot from beyond the arc. The Vikings scored 11 points while the Mustang offense, lead by Maddy Cox with her four points coming in the quarter, took advantage of a little more time and space given by the Vikings to score nine points.
“We definitely could have protected the ball more, but they were a very aggressive team,” Nia Pollard said. “They are really good at trapping.”
Pollard finished her night with three points.
North Salinas began to manage the clock in the second half.
The Vikings began to move the ball without forcing a bad pass, which allowed them to take some uncontested shots. And after seemingly taking a breather during the half, the Vikings defense began to pick up the intensity once again, forcing Gilroy to turn the ball over six times in the third quarter and limiting Gilroy to only eight points.
The third quarter ended with a score of 61-19.
“Even though we were down by a lot, we still ran and tried to push through,” Pollard said.
Despite the enormous lead by North Salinas, Gilroy continued to fight and managed six points in the final frame.
“We played a good team, but I feel we played hard until the end,” Alyssa Harden said.
Harden lead Gilroy scorers with six points.
The Mustangs look to get their first league win against San Benito on Jan. 19.
