It was not a week that will be forever treasured in the memories
of the Live Oak High boys and girls basketball teams. At least not
in a basketball sense. Both the LO boys and girls lost two games
each against rival Gilroy and Hollister-San Benito to close out the
regular season. In boys hoops action, LO dropped a 48-40 decision
at Gilroy on Wednesday night, then fell to the visiting Haybalers
61-49 last night.
It was not a week that will be forever treasured in the memories of the Live Oak High boys and girls basketball teams. At least not in a basketball sense.
Both the LO boys and girls lost two games each against rival Gilroy and Hollister-San Benito to close out the regular season.
In boys hoops action, LO dropped a 48-40 decision at Gilroy on Wednesday night, then fell to the visiting Haybalers 61-49 last night.
In Wednesday’s game, LO fell behind by 15 points at halftime before battling back to draw within three with about a minute and a half left to play. But GHS held off the Acorns to secure the win despite 11 points from senior guard Doug Porras and nine from senior forward Matt van Keulen.
In last night’s game, the Acorns held a 26-20 lead over Hollister-SB midway through the second quarter before a 17-2 Baler run turned the tide.
Van Keulen had a team-high 16 points, including four 3-pointers, while senior forward Brandon Powell added 10 for LO (12-12 overall, 3-7 in league).
For bright spots, LO had to look away from the action.
On Wednesday, the Acorns and Mustangs played an incident-free contest that included additional security in the form of Gilroy police officers, a measure taken when a group of Gilroy fans said they were accosted by LO fans after the first match-up between the two in Morgan Hill. On Friday night, LO honored its six senior boys basketball players in a Senior Night ceremony before their final home games.
The LO boys will compete in the Central Coast Section playoffs beginning next week.
LO girls hoops
A season that saw the Live Oak High girls basketball team win its first two league games in three years came to a disappointing end with two tough losses this week.
The Acorns (5-18 overall, 2-8 in league) fell at Gilroy 68-36 on Tuesday, then lost at Hollister-San Benito 54-16 on Thursday.
Despite the return of Mattie Borges from injury, the Acorn girls simply couldn’t get enough offense going in either game.
LO coach Jeff Perkins said his team showed plenty of improvement this season and his players should be encouraged despite the last week of play.
“They were disappointed in the last two games like I was, but those are two good teams headed to the playoffs,” Perkins said. “I think we accomplished some of the things we set out to accomplish. We didn’t do as well as would have liked but we improved and the players all got better as year went on. This is something to build on.”
Perhaps the team’s biggest accomplishment was getting a coach – Perkins – who plans on sticking around for next season after going through four coaches in four seasons.
And, Perkins will have a strong returning roster next season because only two Acorns – Amanda Lytle and Christina Rodriguez – graduate this year.
LO will also get back center Afshawn Chakamian, who missed about half the season with a knee injury.
