New team, and some early success for Hollister boys basketball

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By focusing only on the next game on the schedule, Hollister boys basketball has improved to a 8-6 overall record after winning seven of its last 10 games following a 1-3 season start.

Head coach David Kaplansky said that despite being a young team with only two seniors on the roster and one returning starter, the team is still relatively experienced.

“A lot of these kids have been playing together for a long time so their chemistry really shows on pressure points,” he said. “I’m just really happy with how the season’s gone so far.”

He said the four freshmen replacing the four seniors Hollister lost from last year’s team are humble, hard working and not scared of the big moment.

“It’s been a good combination of the returners and the young guys,” Kaplansky said. “It’s taken us a while but they are really coming together.”

One of those freshmen is forward Rudy Lopez, who finished with 27 points in Hollister’s 52-42 win over Stevenson High in Pacific Coast Athletic League Mission Division play on Jan. 8.

Lopez said a challenge this season is rebuilding the team. He noted that the team’s record shows it’s improving as the season progresses.

“We’re getting better every game and we’re learning,” he said. “If we lose, we try to improve and see what we did wrong and try to make it better.”

Kaplansky said other key players include junior center Kody Dickens and freshman center Rollins Bastien, who have been “spectacular” in controlling the paint with their size in blocking shots and rebounding while also scoring near the rim.

Dickens said the team is learning to work together and added its strengths are the players’ reliability and their trust in each other. 

“When one man is struggling, we always have another man to back him up, bring him up,” he said. “Right now we’re pretty strong with our 10-man rotation and everybody is just all in.”

Dickens said having a solid rotation helps the team maintain intensity and energy throughout the game.

Both players highlighted the key role the bench plays in keeping up the energy not only with their contributions on the court but also their constant cheers of support throughout the game.

“The bench cheers for us with every shot made,” Lopez said. “They’re all excited and that just really brings the energy to our team and makes us play harder.”

Kaplansky said sophomore guard Donovan Diaz leads the team with his ball handling and 3-point shooting.

“Those guys have been big contributors for us halfway through the season,” Kaplansky said.

Defensively, Kaplansky says the team will focus on full-court pressure in order to disrupt and slow down the opposing team.

“We’re trying to get a [shorter] clock in the half court,” he said. “We’re trying to force a shot at the end of the clock versus at the beginning of the clock.”

Kaplansky said the offense’s strength is in the ball movement in search of the open shooter.

“We’re not screening a lot but we’re moving off the ball and finding the open guy,” he said. “The team is playing really well together. 

Kaplansky said he is not looking past the next team on the schedule but acknowledges the goal is to go beyond the play-in stage of the playoffs. Hollister has been knocked off at that stage the last five years in close losses.

Dickens said the ultimate goal is to move up to the Pacific Coast Athletic League Gabilan division, which is the most competitive in the league.

Next, the Balers travel to Salinas on Jan. 12 to face Rancho San Juan High, a team they defeated in December by a score of 63-35. 

“I’m super proud of their composure,” Kaplansky said. “The team has composure, works hard, is strong and confident.”

BenitoLink thanks our underwriter, Hollister Rotary, for helping expand the sports coverage around San Benito County. Rotary is a nonprofit organization that conducts humanitarian projects, encourages high ethical standards, and works toward world understanding. All editorial decisions are made by BenitoLink.