Page 9 - Mid Valley Times 3-18-21 E-edition

Thursday, March 18, 2021
COVID cases upend initial week of prep football
By Jon Earnest
Mid Valley Times
The return of prep football to the Central Section in an ab- breviated spring season hasn't come as easy as expected for some teams in the region.
Sanger High School's scheduled home scrimmage against Clovis High School at Tom Flores Stadium on March 12 was canceled as the result
of Fresno County's health protocols in preparing for the prep football season. Those protocols include weekly test- ing of all players and limiting fans in attendance to four family members per player.
Brian Penner, SHS athletic director, said the effort to fol- low protocols also resulted in the 7 p.m. Friday, March 19, home game with Lemoore be- ing revised to just a scrim-
mage and delayed a day, to 5 p.m. on Saturday, March 20.
"We had to change it in or- der to follow county health protocols," Penner said. "It be- came an issue where we just couldn't play the game."
Sanger has home games scheduled for March 26 (Kingsburg) April 2 (Bullard) and April 16 (Madera) as well as road games with Edison (April 9) and San Joaquin Me-
morial (April 23).
Reedley High also was
scheduled to play its opener this week, but has canceled the scheduled March 19 home game with Corcoran. Head coach Tony Gates said the school and program is being extra cautious in following the county's COVID-19 guide- lines, particularly with RHS being one of the schools with a majority of students back on
campus for live instruction. For now, the Pirates will open their season at 7:30 p.m.on Friday, March 26, against Hoover High at Sal Gonzalez Field. Darren Min- ami, RHS athletic director, also announced this week that the Pirates have added a Fri- day, April 30 game at Madera
South High.
SeeFOOTBALLonpage A15
SHS takes it outdoors
Sunbirds edged by Biola in NCAA DII tourney debut
MVT Staff Report
The Sanger High girls girls volleyball teams moved outdoors for their winter-spring 2021 sea- son.
The Apaches dedi- cated their brand new outdoor court on March 8 with junior varsity and varsity matches against Clovis High School. The new courts are located on the west end of campus near the tennis courts.
It was the program's first girls volleyball matches since Novem- ber 2019, before the CO- VID-19 pandemic wiped out the normally sched- uled 2020 season.
Sanger High has a home match scheduled for Friday, March 19, against Clovis East High School. The junior varsity match will begin at 3:30 p.m., followed by the var- sity contest at 4:30 p.m.
MVT Staff Report
Fresno Pacific University’s first- ever taste of the NCAA Div. II men’s basketball tournament came tantaliz- ingly close to a second game.
The sixth-seeded Sunbirds (11-5) rallied from a double-digit deficit in the second half to almost force overtime, but came up short by a 76-74 score against fellow PacWest Conference member Biola Univer- sity in an opening round matchup March 12 at Lockridge Arena in Golden, Colo.
Fresno Pacific trailed by 10 points with eight minutes remaining, and still were down eight points at the final media timeout with less than four minutes left when all-confer- ence selection Aamondae Coleman
heated up and the Sunbirds’ defense tightened. Coleman’s fast break dunk brought the Sunbirds to within a point with a minute 45 seconds re- maining.
After a Biola basket and two free throws by Coleman (who finished with a game-high 26 points), the third-seeded Eagles took a two-point lead on one-of-two free throws with 22 seconds remaining. On the ensu- ing possession, Immanuel High prod- uct Nate Kendricks drove the right baseline and put up a twisting short jumper off glass that curled out.
Biola got the rebound and the Sunbirds fouled with two seconds left. After a pair of missed free throws, FPU got the rebound and
SeeSUNBIRDSonpage A15
Spring Growers Outlook
To everything there is a season...
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Published
March 25, 2021
Advertising Deadline
March 12, 2021
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Sanger High School / Photo Contributed
Sanger High's girls volleyball programs opened its re- vised 2021 winter-spring season with a March 8 match against Clovis High School on the Apaches' new outdoor volleyball court layout.
PREP SPORTS SCHEDULE FOR MARCH 18-24
Events and matchups are suibject to change
THURSDAY, MARCH 18 GOLF
Reedley vs. McLane, Sherwood GC Sanger, 1:30
Field, 7 p.m.
SOCCER
p.m.
Sanger vs. Madera South, Madera, 2 p.m.
Sanger vs. Central, Central HS Fresno, 3:30 p.m. (JV/V) VOLLEYBALL
SOCCER
Sanger varsity vs. Clovis East, Sanger HS, 4:30 p.m. Sanger frosh/JV vs. Clovis East,SangerHS,3:30p.m.
SOFTBALL
Immanuel girls vs. Farmersville, Farmersville HS, 4:30 p.m.
Reedley girls vs. Tulare Union, Reedley HS, 4/6 p.m. (JV/V)
SWIMMING
Reedley boys vs. Bullard, Bullard HS Fresno, 3/5 p.m. (JV/V)
Sanger girls vs. Kingsburg, Tom Flores Stadium, 3/5 p.m. (JV/V)
Reedley boys/girls at Sanger, Sanger HS courts, 1 p.m.
SATURDAY, MARCH 20 BASEBALL Sanger vs. Sunnyside (scrimmage), Sanger High
Dinuba HS, 4 p.m.
Dinuba girls vs. Selma, Selma HS, 4 p.m. Immanuel boys vs. Exeter, Immanuel SC courts, 4 p.m. Immanuel girls vs. Exeter, Exeter HS, 4 p.m.
Reedley vs. Sunnyside. Reedley College, Girls 1:30 p.m./Boys 3:30 p.m.
Sanger vs. Clovis, Clovis HS, 3 p.m.
Sanger boys vs. Fowler, Fowler HS, 4/6 p.m. (JV/V)
diamond, noon
SOFTBALL
FOOTBALL
Reedley vs. Bullard, Bullard HS Fresno, 3/5 p.m.. (JV/V)
Sanger vs. Lemoore (scrimmage only), Tom Flores Stadium, 5 p.m. (Varsity only) SOCCER
MONDAY, MARCH 22 GOLF
Reedley at NYL Dual #5, Sunnyside CC Fresno, 1:30
p.m.
SWIMMING
Sanger High freshman boys at tourament, site/times TBA
Dinuba vs. Mt. Whitney, Mt. Whitney HS Visalia, 4 p.m. Reedley vs. Fresno, Fresno HS, 3:30 p.m.
Dinuba girls vs. Hanford West, Dinuba HS, 4 p.m. Dinuba boys vs. Hanford West, Hanford West HS, 4 p.m.
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 24 BASEBALL Sanger vs. Golden West, Sanger HS, 3:30 p.m. (JV/V) CROSS COUNTRY Sanger at CMAC/North Area
TENNIS
Immanuel girls vs. Kingsburg, Immanuel SC courts, 4 p.m. Immanuel boys vs. Kingsburg, Kingsburg HS, 4 p.m.
Sanger vs. McLane, McLane HS Fresno, 3 p.m.
Reedley varsity vs. Fresno, Reedley College, Girls 1:30 p.m., Boys 3:30 p.m. Reedley JV boys/girls vs. Mission Oak HS, Tulare, 3:30 p.m.
TUESDAY, MARCH 23 BASEBALL Dinuba vs. Reedley, Dinuba
LACROSSE
FRIDAY, MARCH 19 FOOTBALL Dinuba High Green/White Scrimmage, Claud Hebert
HS, 10 a.m./1 p.m. (JV/V) Immanuel vs. Lindsay, Lindsay HS, 4 p.m.
Sanger vs. Hoover, Hoover HS Fresno, 3:30 p.m. Sanger JVs vs. Buchanan, Buchanan HS Clovis, 3:30 p.m.
Sanger vs. Sunnyside, Sunnyside HS Fresno, 3 p.m. SOCCER
Sanger vs. Mission Oak, Tom Flores Stadium, 3/5 p.m.
(JV/V)
Sanger boys-girls vs Clovis North, Clovis North HS, 3 p.m.
SOFTBALL
Reedley boys vs. Central, Central HS Fresno, JV at 5:30 p.m. Varsity at 5 p.m. Reedley girls varsity vs. Orosi, Orosi HS, 6 p.m.
Immanuel vs. Sierra, Sierra HSTollhouse,4p.m. Sanger JVs vs. Redwood, Redwood HS Visalia, 3:30 p.m.
Sanger vs. SJ Memorial, SHS Aquatics Complex, 2:30 p.m. TENNIS
Dinuba boys vs. Selma,
Sanger vs. Bullard, Bullard HS Fresno, 2:30 p.m.
SWIMMING
TENNIS
LACROSSE
SOCCER
Championships, TBA Reedley at NYL Championships, Fresno, times TBA
Parliervs.Minarets,Parlier HS, B-5 p.m./G-7 p.m.
TENNIS
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