Lady Mustangs blowout Live Oak, 52-30; Salinas next.
MORGAN HILL – After opening its league schedule with tough games against Salinas, Hollister, Notre Dame, and North Salinas, the Gilroy High girls basketball team cruised to a critical 52-30 road victory over rival Live Oak.
“We did a lot of this early on in the season and, of course, wins breed confidence so that’s good for the team. Their spirits are up,” said first-year head coach Kari Williams, following Wednesday’s impressive win. “We played some tough games. We beat Hollister only by two. We lost by one in our own gym (to North Salinas) so it was a good win for us.
“It’s going to help us with our final five games. We have three home, two away,” Williams added. “I think we can be contenders in all five of those games.”
The Lady Mustangs improved their Tri-County Athletic League to 2-3 with a pivotal home game on the horizon Friday night against Salinas at 7 p.m.
“We really wanted this game so we came out kind of shaky. But once we got all those nerves out, we played well,” said senior captain Laura Hennessee, who finished with nine points. “Our next game is Salinas at Gilroy and last time we could’ve beat them at their place, but we’re going back home, we’re going to play them at home, we’re going to go out there and play our hearts out because we know we can beat them.”
Despite not finding their rhythm through the first two quarters, the Lady Mustangs built a 30-17 halftime lead on Live Oak – which has struggled without senior center Katrina Friebel (knee).
“They challenged us in the first half. We weren’t working the ball around,” Hennessee said. “But in the second half when we ran our offense correctly, we had our open shots and then it started to turn into a practice. We started working the ball around, playing with each other, and having fun.”
Junior Sarah Hoeft (team-high 14 points) and sophomore Antionette Okere (eight points) both had monster games on the glass – giving Gilroy second, third and even fourth shot opportunities on almost every offensive possession.
“I had great games from my post players. Antionette Okere did an awesome job. She played less than anybody as far as time-wise and she had 10, 11 rebounds. She was just coming up with the ball all over the place,” Williams said. “Sarah Hoeft had a great game. She had nearly 20 rebounds. I talked to her before the game, ‘if the guards are shooting and missing, she’s got to rebound it and put it back in.'”
Hoeft polished up on her free throw shooting with a 6-of-10 night at the charity stripe and she finally showed signs of recapturing her shooting touch.
“We’ve been working on a bank shot with her,” said Williams of Hoeft. “We worked on her free throws and she’s really just developing into the basketball player she can be… It’s about time.”
Gilroy extended to a 21-point spread by the end of the third quarter – outscoring the Lady Acorns, 10-2. Senior forward Jenn Olvera (11 points) got things going with a pair of buckets. Then it was Okere, sophomore Michelle DiFiore (six points), and Hennessee hitting shots.
“I was nervous in the beginning and I kinda put a lot of pressure on myself,” Hennessee said. “We came out (in the second half) and I started just trusting my team and relying on them, so we started working as one and that’s how you play basketball.”
In the fourth quarter, everyone got in the mix for Gilroy – including reserve guards Laila Correa and Sarah Whitney.
“It was good to have everyone in game,” Williams said. “It makes it worth while for them. These guys work hard in practice and it’s nice for them to get in and be able to play. They got some good time in. It wasn’t just the last minute.”
The Lady Mustangs return to practice with their sights set on avenging an earlier loss to league-foe Salinas before another home game Feb. 11 against Hollister at 7 p.m.
“We have to win. We now play at home on Friday. We’re going to go out and review some tape. We’re going to get ready for them. They played a 1-2-2 zone on us and we’re just going to be ready for it,” said Williams of Salinas. “We’re not going to be intimidated… We’re going to come out and be aggressive and the girls are learning they have to do that. The refs are letting them play.”
