At one point in the first quarter, King City head coach Adrian Trujillo spoke to his Mustangs team from the sideline, telling them to quickly inbound the ball before San Benito could set up their full-court press.
It wasn't necessarily a ploy to catch the Lady 'Balers off-guard and generate offense, but more of a ploy to catch the Lady 'Balers off-guard and break their press.
San Benito forced 40 turnovers and took 85 shots from the field - 34 more than King City - en route to a 72-39 victory over the visiting Mustangs on Tuesday at Mattson Gym in Hollister.
In what was the home opener for San Benito, which was coming off a 44-27 win over Seaside on Nov. 25, the Lady 'Balers took a narrow 27-21 halftime lead and exploded in the third and fourth quarters, outscoring King City by a 45-18 margin.
"In the second half, they started to get a little continuity and started to get a little confident," San Benito head coach David Kaplansky said. "Once the ball started going in, it transpired to the rest of the team."
King City grabbed a 2-0 lead to start with Breanna Rosas' jumper in the paint, but after Vanessa Farias' lay-up tied it, Erin Glasspool's 3-pointer gave the Lady 'Balers a lead they never relinquished for the remainder of the game.
Farias led all scorers on the night with 23 points, while the sophomore Glasspool did most of her damage from long distance, pouring in 13 points on 4 of 7 shooting with all four baskets coming from behind the arc.
"She had a great summer, a great camp," Kaplansky said of Glasspool. "It didn't surprise me tonight how great she played. She's real confident for a sophomore."
The confidence shone through in the third quarter especially. Trailing 27-21 at the break, King City started the third on a 5-2 run to cut the deficit to three.
But Glasspool picked the perfect time to catch fire from behind the arc as she hit three treys and sparked a 20-4 run by the Lady 'Balers to end the quarter.
"It took one or two to get going," Kaplansky said, "and once that happened, we caught a nice little rhythm."
After struggling in the first half, shooting just 22 percent from the field and 5 of 18 from the line, San Benito did a 180 in the third and fourth quarters. They finished the game shooting 43 percent from the field and 6 of 6 from the charity stripe.
"We just didn't have any rhythm offensively in the first half," Kaplansky said. "I thought our defense was solid and kept us in the game."
San Benito's defense certainly kept them afloat in the first two quarters as well, but it stymied any chance King City had of keeping pace with Lady 'Balers in the second half. Held to just 25 percent (13 of 51) shooting from the field, the Mustangs didn't hit a field goal in the fourth quarter until there were 19 seconds remaining in regulation.
San Benito (2-0), offensively and defensively, should have their hands full on Friday when they visit Presentation, a semifinalist in last year's Central Coast Section Division II playoffs.
Tip-off is at 7 p.m.
Notes:
San Benito finished the game shooting 32 percent (27 of 85) from the field and 46 percent (11 of 24) from the free-throw line ... They committed 21 turnovers ... King City was 55 percent (12 of 22) from the free-throw line.
Kim Warner led all scorers with 20 points and the San Benito girls junior varsity basketball team topped visiting King City 67-22 Tuesday at Mattson Gym in Hollister.
Melisah Cortez and Mari Vallejo each added 11 points for the Lady 'Balers, which improved to 3-0 with the win.
"I think the biggest highlight of the game is that everybody scored, which is kind of a nice feeling," San Benito head coach Karen Fortino said. "We have a little bit of a small team this year and everybody really contributed to the win.
"The girls are really understanding what our program is all about."
San Benito will play again at Presentation in San Jose on Friday at 5:30 p.m.
Andrew Matheson Andrew Matheson is a sports writer for South Valley Newspapers. He can be reached at 831-637-5566 ext. 334 or at amatheson@svnewspapers.com.
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