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Hollister girls basketball overcame a slow start to advance to the third round of the Division 1 Central Coast Section playoffs with a win over the Leigh High School Longhorns 45-27 on Feb. 22. The Balers are scheduled to face #3-ranked Menlo-Atherton High in the quarterfinals on Feb. 25 at 7 p.m. in Atherton.
The Balers took control of the game following a 16-point run in the second and third quarters to take a 26-17 lead. Half of the points in that run came from junior forward Madelyn Davis.
“She had a good game—could have made a few more maybe,” coach Mitch Burley said.
Davis led all scorers with 17 points. Junior guard Miranda Martinez contributed 10 points. Davis and Martinez were the only players in the game that finished with double digits.
Hollister struggled offensively early in the game, missing their first 11 shots, but they went on to outshoot Leigh in the first quarter 20-8. Facing a 3-point deficit, Leigh took advantage of Hollister’s slow start to go on a 10-point run to begin the second quarter and take a 17-10 lead, their largest in the game.
“The beginning was pretty rough,” Davis said. “We kind of missed a lot and we got off to a really slow start, but we knew that we had to win.”
Davis said she felt the Balers played fast on defense to challenge Leigh’s 3-point shooting and slowed down on offense to have better shot selection. Leigh attempted 23 3-point shots, scoring on six of them. The Balers missed all six of their 3-point attempts.
Burley said he had prepared to face 11-seeded Mountain View High but adjusted his plan when Leigh upset them in the first round. He said Leigh uses man-to-man coverage, which isn’t Hollister’s “forte.”
“There were times where we had trouble scoring, but there were times they had trouble scoring longer,” Burley said. “I think our defense was key to that.”
The Balers allowed 17 points in the first half and limited the Longhorns to 10 points in the second.
Burley said Leigh’s man-to-man coverage forced his team to drive into the basket, which can lead to more free throws compared to a team using zone coverage.
In that category, Hollister was more effective than the Longhorns. The Balers were nine for 14 from the free throw line while Leigh was one for 10.
More Hollister High playoff results
Unseeded Hollister boys basketball lost in overtime to 11th-seeded Independence High 57-55 on Feb. 21 in the first round of Division 1 play. The game was held in San Jose.
Five-seeded boys soccer defeated four-seeded Del Mar High School 2-0 in the quarterfinals of the Division II playoffs. They are scheduled to face the No. 1 seed Hillsdale High in the semifinals on Feb. 26 at 6 p.m. in San Mateo.
Seven-seeded girls soccer lost to the second seed Christopher 3-2 in overtime on Feb. 22 in Gilroy.
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