GHS boys hoops battles back to tie Haybalers before falling
50-44 at home.
GILROY – Trailing by 11 points at the half against rival Hollister, the Gilroy High boys basketball team needed a spark from someone to open the third quarter.
So, head coach Michael Baumgartner turned to an unlikely source in sophomore forward Vince Mitre – who responded by leading the Mustangs back to tie the score at 29-29.
“Coach told us to play smart, keep the intensity up,” said Mitre, who netted all 10 of his points in the second half, “and these guys are our rivals so we’ve got to play hard.”
Gilroy (0-2 in T-CAL, 6-10 overall) played hard and even took the lead for a brief minute in the fourth quarter before slipping down the stretch for a tough-to-handle 50-44 home loss.
“I guess we just got tired. We started playing stupid. We weren’t being smart,” said Mitre, who added four rebounds and a whole lot of intensity. “There’s not a team that is going to kill us in this league. We just have to go out there as underdogs and show them what we’ve got.”
The Mustangs have battled with the big boys of Hollister, Salinas and Live Oak – putting a scare in all of them during league action. But their height deficiency has hampered them late in ball games.
“They played the best they could play. They just have to do that for four quarters,” said Baumgartner of his hardworking unit. “I can’t stand losing (but) the way they battled back like that you don’t see too many teams do that at this level.”
Another major reason for the Mustangs’ second-half surge was the inspirational defensive play of senior guard Ron Colmon (three steals) as well as the never-say-die effort from senior forwards Erik Tollison (10 points, 10 rebounds) and Kyle Loving (seven points).
“Ron did exactly what we asked him to do. That’s his game. He was one of the main reasons we fought back like that,” Baumgartner said. “(Tollison) doesn’t give up and that’s all we can ask of him right now.
“(Loving) just battles hard. He never gives up an inch,” the coach added. “Every time he makes a mistake on one end, he makes it up on the other. He just plays hard.”
Mitre started the third-quarter rally with consecutive three-pointers plus a putback bucket from Loving. Hollister quickly extended back to a six-point advantage, but Gilroy proceed to go on a 6-0 run to knot things up. A Mitre drive made for an easy lay-up by Tollison, then a Mitre hoop in transition, and a pair of Mitre free throws prompted a Haybalers time-out with 4:19 left in the third.
“(Mitre) did a great job tonight. We asked him at halftime. I said I need you to be more aggressive offensively and let things happen,” Baumgartner said. “Every time we ask him to do something he does it. For a sophomore, that’s pretty impressive.”
The impressive Gilroy run turned into a five-point deficit until a Danny Vadillo trey crept the Mustangs back within two. Senior forward Josh Gravell (nine points, three rebounds) then sank one of two foul shots to close out the third with Gilroy down, 36-35.
“I think (other squads underestimate us) a little bit, but not much because they know our team comes to play hard. We’ve been like that for three or four years,” Baumgartner said. “They see how small we are and they think they can take advantage of that and so we just make up for it with execution and tougher defense.”
In the fourth quarter, Tollison found Loving for a patented hook to give the Mustangs a one-point edge. The two teams exchanged baskets and the lead before the Haybalers tied the score at 39-39 with a one-of-two trip at the free-throw line.
Gilroy held its own for the next two minutes, but ran out of gas halfway through the fourth. Meanwhile, the Haybalers began to generate easy buckets inside to pull away late.
“I wish they would pass some (of their height) down our way,” Baumgartner said. “They’re frustrated because they know that they have to play four quarters and so I told them once we reach that we’ll be successful. But until then, we have to keep on battling.”
The battle continues for the Mustangs with a Jan. 28 road game against Palma at 7 p.m.
“I think we can match up a little better with them, but of course they’re going to be well coached and it’s going to be a good game because it’s at Palma,” Baumgartner said. “There’s not going to be anything easy.”
