On opening night in Blossom Valley Athletic League girls
basketball the Live Oak Acorns were reminded that while they are
out to revamp their program this season, so is every team in the
West Valley Division.
Live Oak came alive in time to beat Yerba Buena, 39-27,
convincingly Tuesday, but only after the visiting Aztec Warriors, a
team that was winless in 2010-11, took a 25-18 lead with a 6-0
scoring run late in the third quarter.
MORGAN HILL
On opening night in Blossom Valley Athletic League girls basketball the Live Oak Acorns were reminded that while they are out to revamp their program this season, so is every team in the West Valley Division.
Live Oak came alive in time to beat Yerba Buena, 39-27, convincingly Tuesday, but only after the visiting Aztec Warriors, a team that was winless in 2010-11, took a 25-18 lead with a 6-0 scoring run late in the third quarter.
Coach Mike Kiefer gave the Acorns a spirited talk during an ensuing timeout, and they proceeded to score 21 of the final 23 points.
“I’ve been trying to tell them that this is a good team, but we have to show up each and every night,” Kiefer said afterward. “When I called that timeout, I think we had a freshman, two sophomores, a junior and a senior on the floor. I don’t care what your age is; somebody has got to step up. If we want to play at that level where we contend as a team, it’s got to start right now.”
The Acorns responded well at every grade level in the fourth quarter, overcoming a rough opening three quarters in which they turned the ball over 28 times and shot 24 percent from the field.
They woke up in the final eight minutes, with freshman Kristi Kisso Martinez exploding for eight points on 4-for-4 shooting, junior Alex Balala collecting five points and an assist in three straight possessions, and senior Danielle Horning pulling in five of her 10 rebounds.
“We just needed to pick up the intensity,” the 6-foot Horning said. “Coach couldn’t really tell us anything because we already know what we’re supposed to do – pick it up.”
Live Oak (4-6) shot 7 for 9 in the fourth quarter and stepped up just as big on defense, holding Yerba Buena’s vaunted 1-2 guard combo of seniors Kitty Kha (13 points) and Karen Cruda (four assists, six rebounds), scoreless a second-team all-league honoree, with an impressive effort led by Balala.
“She’s starting to understand what her role is,” Kiefer said. “She’s starting to pick it up defensively. She guarded Cruda very well there at the end, and Cruda’s a great ball handler. … Also in that timeout I told them that Kha wasn’t allowed to shoot anymore. Take Kha and Cruda away; you take away 75 percent of their team.”
The matchup between the seventh- and eight-place finishers in the division from a year ago went back and forth through an opening half marred by turnovers and poor shooting.
The Acorns eventually got a couple to fall and led 10-3 after Stephanie Rosales (four points, eight rebounds) hit a midrange jumper with 6:16 left in the second quarter. The Aztec Warriors (2-5) answered with an 11-4 scoring run to tie it, 14-14, at halftime. Kha highlighted that with a 3-pointer and a coast-to-drive for a layin.
“We were traveling a lot, and we were making fouls,” Balala said. “We needed to change that.”
The Acorns also needed to amend their poor shooting, which plagued them in their previous two games – losses to Fremont and American.
Their bench helped them do that with smart passing and hustle in the fourth quarter. Martinez (10 points, eight rebounds) dribbled and kicked to Jocelyn Mendoza (eight points, 10 rebounds) for a pair of open jumpers, and Balala hit a go-ahead trey with 4:55 left, then stole the ball and went in for a layup on Yerba Buena’s next possession. Balala dished inside to Martinez for an easy two a minute later.
“Alex just pushed so hard with everything she had,” said Horning, who helped Live Oak build a 21-6 edge in rebounds in the second half. “She loves to run. She really went all out, worked her hardest. I think everyone just fed off her. She has so much energy.”
With each basket, the Acorns’ confidence level rises, Kiefer said. The same goes for each win. Although victory isn’t as novel to the Acorns as it was a year ago, when Live Oak won five games, taking care of business and contending for a league championship certainly are.
“We’re here to win, not be competitive,” Kiefer said. “1-0 was our goal tonight. Now we focus on San Jose (7 p.m. Thursday at San Jose High School) and trying to be 2-0.”
