Capping off two very different performances in the first half of
Tri-County Athletic League play, the Live Oak High boys and girls
basketball teams will both play their league rivals from Gilroy
this week.
Capping off two very different performances in the first half of Tri-County Athletic League play, the Live Oak High boys and girls basketball teams will both play their league rivals from Gilroy this week.
The Acorn boys host the Mustangs on Tuesday at 7 p.m. and will be aiming for a perfect 5-0 first half of the league schedule against a Gilroy team that has just a single victory in TCAL play.
The Acorn girls will travel to Gilroy to play on Wednesday at 7 p.m. and will be trying to avoid a winless first half of their TCAL schedule. Even though the Mustang girls have also struggled in the relentless TCAL so far this season, Live Oak will have its hands full.
Both the Live Oak boys and girls will begin the second half of TCAL play at Hollister in a twi-night doubleheader on Friday.
The Live Oak boys will welcome Gilroy to town after coming off a week that saw them secure a pair of key league victories — against defending league champion Salinas and league rival Palma — on back-to-back nights. Live Oak (4-0 in league, 17-2 overall) leads the TCAL by a single game over Hollister-San Benito (3-1 in league). The Acorns are ranked No. 12 in the Central Coast Section.
An improving Gilroy (1-3 in league, 3-12 overall) snapped up its lone league win by beating Palma 46-40 on Tuesday last week, then came up just short to North Salinas by a 46-45 score on Thursday. The Mustang boys are led by senior guard Brandt Chacon, who single-handedly kept Gilroy in Thursday’s game with 18 points.
Meanwhile, the Lady Acorns will be engaged in a battle with the Gilroy girls to stay out of the TCAL cellar, as both teams enter the game with 0-4 league marks. But Live Oak (2-16 overall) has a few more losses than the Mustangs (8-12 overall), who are led by junior Michelle DiFiore and sophomore Kristen Campos.
Both teams got a first-hand look at how far they have to go to be competitive in the TCAL when they took on league leader Notre Dame last week. Against the powerful Spirits, who are ranked No. 3 in CCS, Gilroy lost 67-37, while Live Oak dropped a 77-38 decision.
However, first-year Acorn coach Richard Silva said he was pleased with how his team kept competing against the private school jugger-naut.
Trailing by as many as 46 points in the second half, Live Oak was actually able to whittle away at Notre Dame’s lead in the fourth quarter.
“Our girls are fighting,” Silva said. “We ran our offense, made some shots and kept playing hard. For us t9o score that many points against the best team in the league is encouraging. Hopefully, we can get a win here pretty soon.”
