FREMONT – A little trust can go a long way. Trust from one’s coach; trust from one’s teammates; trust in one’s self.
Olivia Baptista
Ross girls basketball team puts its trust in itself and one another and was rewarded with its best all-around effort of the season as the Lady Giants blew away Oregon Clay, 63-37.
Coach Juan Vela trusted his bench with more minutes in important situations. Junior Olivia Baptista trusted herself to shoot instead of pass. And both Baptista and Vela were rewarded for their faith.
“The past couple games, I haven’t really been shooting as much as they’ve wanted me to and in practice they’re telling me to shoot more,” Baptista said. “(Vela) was saying we need to be a 3-dimensional team, not just a 2-dimensional team with just Brooke (Baptista) and Jazmin (Bulger). I knew what he was saying but sometimes I feel like I’m not open, but I guess I am.”
Ross led at halftime 30-24, but it didn’t stay a six-point lead for long. Baptista hit a 3-pointer in the first 30 seconds of the second half. Two minutes later, Baptista caught a pass from her sister and quickly released and drained another ball from long distance. Baptista made four of five 3-point attempts and scored all 14 of her points in the third quarter, leading Ross to blow the game open, taking a 53-29 lead into the fourth quarter. Baptista alone outscored Clay 14-5 in the third.
“I think Olivia is a special player,” Vela said. “I think she has a great basketball IQ. I think she has the potential to be a top scorer and I’m trying to bring that out of her. She’s very unselfish and is always thinking about her teammates first. But I think her skill could take us to a different tier.”
Jazmin Bulger
Brooklyn Baptista
With Baptista hotter than a fire cracker, she gave the Lady Giants a three-headed offensive monster as Brooke Baptista scored a game-high 18 points to go with four steals and three assists while Jazmin Bulger scored 12 points with seven rebounds, six assists and four steals.
“It feels good, especially coming out of the first half, not having any points, and you’re kind of down on yourself,” Olivia Baptista said. “You come out and hit that first shot and it’s ‘OK, I can do it,’ and then the defense picks up. I think that helped.”
While Baptista broke the game open in the second half, the Lady Giants held onto a narrow lead throughout the first half thanks to a terrific effort from their supporting cast.
Junior Rachel Gore, seniors Bre Nason and Braelyn Horn and junior Jasannah Sabiers (starting in place of injured starter Ahlia Simms) took turns providing Ross with outstanding energy on both ends of the floor.
Braelyn Horn
Breyari Nason
Vela put his reserves into the game early and often after being asked to place trust in them by Nason.
“I said he doesn’t know quite what we’re capable of until he puts us out there and lets us give it our all,” said Nason, who scored two points with two assists and one steal but whose defense led to several more Clay offensive miscues.
“He was like, ‘I’m kinda scared to do it.’ But he did it and he told us he was so proud of us. I feel so accomplished today because I feel like I really gave it my all.”
Horn grabbed four rebounds, Gore with five points, including a pair of steals both of which she took the other end for a fast-break layup . Sabiers finished with 12 points in the post with four rebounds.
“Breyari said ‘You’ve got to trust us,’ and today I went out on a limb and I trusted them,” Vela said.
Rachel Gore
Jasannah Sabiers
“It’s nice to see our second team give the coach the confidence to keep them in there and not lose rhythm. That’s a coach’s dream.”
Ross’ win improves the Lady Giants’ record to 7-2 overall, 3-2 in the TRAC. The Lady Giants are off until Dec. 28 when they travel to Marion Harding.
Vela is hoping Thursday’s win over Clay is an indication of what is to come for his team.
“If our reserves can buy-in and not get out of their comfort zone, as far as what they’re not able to do, and just take care of the ball, we could do a lot of nice things.”
Fremont Ross 63, Oregon Clay 37
CLAY (37)
Henneman-Dallape 3; Coughlin 2; Slovak 7; Stevens 1; Vincent 12; Stanley 5; Anna Rew 3; Grimes 3; Alivia Rew 2. Totals: 11 14-26 37.
FREMONT ROSS (63)
Bulger 4 2-4 12; Gore 2 1-2 5; B. Baptista 7 2-2 18; O. Baptista 5 0-1 14; Sabiers 5 2-4 12; Nason 0 2-2 2. Totals: 23 9-16 63.
3-pointers: Clay, ; Ross, 8 (O. Baptista 4; B. Baptista 2; Bulger 2)