WATSONVILLE — The youthful Monte Vista Christian Mustangs have grown up in front of head coach Jennifer Keathley’s eyes.
Thursday night they met yet another benchmark.
M.V.C. blew a 15-point lead in the second half, but kept its cool down the stretch and made the plays when it mattered to escape with a 55-51 victory over Gilroy High in Monterey Bay League Gabilan division action.
M.V.C. (10-9, 2-5) led 40-25 after an 8-0 run out of halftime, but Gilroy (9-10, 1-6) rallied to tie it up at 51-all with 1:12 left to play.
Mustangs sophomore wing Madison Hill tossed in the go-ahead bucket with under a minute to go, and iced the victory by sinking a pair of free throws with 8.6 seconds left after the defense made a pair of stops.
Hill led all scorers with 22 points and was unrelenting on the glass while pulling down 11 rebounds. Junior guard Angel Alcantar added 12 points, three steals and three assists. Sophomore forward Angelina Cortes chipped in eight points and eight rebounds. Freshman point guard Mackenzie Tellez stuffed the stat sheet with seven points, five rebounds, six assists and a pair of steals.
“The last two minutes were definitely nerve-racking but it just shows how much we’ve grown since the start of our season,” Tellez said. “Everyone says that we are a young team, but there’s so much potential behind everyone. We all trust each other so much. Going through those tough moments really helps us. It’s really nice to know that we’re getting somewhere. We’re improving all together.”
Junior guard Kaia Adams poured in a team-high 20 points for Gilroy, which hurt itself by shooting 6 of 17 from the charity stripe.
Gilroy led 20-17 early in the second quarter, but Cortes swished a 3-pointer from the corner and junior forward Morgan Scott took a charge to spark a 12-5 M.V.C. run before the half.
Hill scored six quick points out of the break to stake M.V.C. to a 15-point advantage.
Gilroy closed the deficit to five heading into the final stanza, and tied it up twice over the final five minutes but could not get the bucket it needed to steal the win on the road.
“We really applied what coach Keathley was telling us in the end,” Hill said.
The win was M.V.C.’s second consecutive, and third over its last four games. The small uptick in success was much needed after the young Mustangs started the new year with a four-game losing streak against MBL-G opponents.
“This is actually really big for us,” Keathley said. “I think earlier in the year we might have lost a game like this. It was a big deal to actually finish a close one.”
The early-season struggles were somewhat expected after losing two-time league M.V.P. Delaney Moore to graduation, and returning only two major contributors from last season’s 18-win squad. Having promising 6-foot center Sophie Allen on the bench after tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in her knee earlier this season, also hurt the Mustangs’ chances of challenging for the MBL-G title.
With four freshmen, two sophomores, four juniors and only a pair of seniors, Keathley’s players, six of them new to the team, not only had to adjust to the varsity game, but also one another. There were still several moments of miscommunication throughout the night, but the Mustangs feel like things are starting to click and their raw talent is starting to shine.
“We’ve bonded over these past few months and practices,” Hill said. “We’re really young. We lost three strong leaders, but I feel like we’re really rebuilding and coming back.”
EASY MONEY
Aptos High star sophomore basketball player Gabby Giuffre won $100 by banking in a half-court shot during halftime in M.V.C.’s shootout sponsored by Pizza My Heart.
Six random contestants from the crowd had a chance to win escalating prizes from Pizza My Heart by making shots of varying difficulty, starting with a layup and ending with a half-court heave.
Athletic Director Matt Coleman said it was only the second time the school has done the halftime shootout, and added that it will continue through the rest of the basketball season.
UP NEXT
M.V.C.: Mustangs hosts league-leading Seaside High on Tuesday at 7 p.m.
