Page 11 - Reedley Exponent 1-3-19 E-edition

B3 | Thursday, January 3, 2019 www.reedleyexponent.com Immanuel girls rally to go 2-2 in Tulare
Preps
Local teams gear up for league play next week Staff Report
The Reedley High and Immanuel High boys bas- ketball teams will mix league tests with special non-league matchups when they resume play this week after a short winter vacation break.
The Pirate (6-5) have non- league road games against Pacheco High of Los Banos on Thursday, Jan. 3, and Madera High on Saturday. Jan. 5. Varsity tipoff times are 6 and 6:30 p.m., respec- tively. Reedley then will open the North Yosemite League season on Wednesday, Jan. 9, against Fresno High in a 6:30 p.m. varsity start.
Defending section Divi- sion III champion Immanuel (9-4) plays its first game in almost three weeks when it hosts Dinuba in a 7:30 p.m. Central Sequoia League contest on Friday, Jan. 4 at IHS gym. The next day, the Eagles travel to Sanger High for a non-league matchup against the Apaches in the NorCal TV Sports Central Valley Showcase. It will be a rematch of last March's sec- tion final between the two schools — the Eagles cap- tured the title in that meet- ing with a 68-57 comeback victory at Fresno's Selland Arena.
Immanuel will play CSL opponents the rest of the way, with the exception of a matchup in the Edison Super Saturday Showcase on Satur- day, Jan. 19, in Fresno.
GIRLS
Pirates participate in Parlier tourney Jan. 3-5
Reedley High gets three more games in before its scheduled NYL opener, par- ticipating in the Parlier Var- sity Tournament on Thurs- day through Saturday, Jan. 3-5, at Parlier High School. It will be the first games for the Pirates (6-7) since their fourth-place finish at the Di- nuba/Orosi Holiday Classic on Dec. 22.
See PREPS on page B4
Eagles girls down Corcoran, Tulare Western, return to CSL play on Jan. 4
Staff Report
For the second consecu- tive tournament, the Immanu- el High Eagle girls rebounded from two early losses to post consecutive wins as they look to gain momentum for the re- sumption of Central Sequoia League basketball play.
The Eagles (5-9) shook off losses to host Tulare Union (55-14) and El Diamante (47- 27) on Dec. 27 to defeat Wood- lake (46-29 on Dec. 28) and Tulare Western (44-37 on Dec. 29) to finish 13th with a 2-2 re- cord at the Tulare Mid-Winter Showcase Invitational. A week earlier, Immanuel went 2-2 in the Orosi portion of the Dinu- ba-Orosi Holiday Classic.
Sophomore guard Brooke Hatch scored 18 points against Woodlake and eight points against Tulare West- ern, following a 13-point effort against El Diamante to earn
See EAGLES on page B4
Jon Earnest / The Exponent
Immanuel High guard Brooke Hatch drove to the basket in a loss to host Tulare Union on the opening day of the Tulare Holiday Classic on Dec. 27. Hatch was named to the all-tournament team after the Eagles finished with a 2-2 record in the 16-team event.
RHS girls soccer holds off Fowler
By Jon Earnest
jon@midvalleypublishing.com
The Reedley High Pirate girls soccer team may have climbed back above the .500 mark for the season, but coach Bladimir Pizano said there's still plenty to improve in the team's play.
"It's all to do with attitude and determination," Pizano said Dec. 28 after the Pirates (6-5-2) made a first-half goal from Jennifer Gordillo stand up for a 1-0 non-league shut- out of the Fowler Redcats at Sal Gonzales Field. "The lack of determination is unsettling, like not going hard on a 50-50 ball.
"The effort and hustle is kind of disheartening for a team with a lot of seniors. It's inexcusable."
The win against Fowler snapped a two-match losing streak for the team, the most recent a 3-0 home shutout on Dec. 19 against reigning Cen- tral Section division 1 cham- pion Buchanan.
Pizano said he actually was more impressed with the team's intensity in that loss. It also was reminiscent of a slump endured by the 20-7-1 team that rallied to win league and reach the Division III sec- tion semifinals.
"This happened to us last year, we hit a little funk and then we came back and won 13inarowandwecould have won Valley," Pizano said. "We're not learning our lesson. We thought it would be differ-
See GIRLS SOCCER on page B4
Jon Earnest / The Exponent
Reedley High's Jennifer Gordillo (9) smiled at teammate Amanda Lopez (21) after she scored the lone goal of the Pirates' 1-0 win over Fowler on Dec. 28 after a feed from Lopez.
Local championship highlights from 2018
The winter season of 2018 was a successful one for Reedley and Immanuel high schools, with the Pirate boys capturing the Central Section Division II soccer championship by defeating the Redwood Rangers in Visalia on Feb. 23. On March 3, Immanuel's boys and girls captured Division III section basketball titles in Fresno. It was the fifth straight sec- tion crown for the Eagle boys program and third straight title for the IHS girls. Also in February, Orange Cove's boys won the section Division V soccer crown.
LEFT: Reedley High players Emmanuel Ybarra, left, and Phillip Rico (11) celebrated with the section championship trophy after the Pirate boys defeated Redwood.
ABOVE: Nate Kendrick, now at Fresno Pacific University, soared in for a layup for two of his 34 points in Immanuel boys' section final win over Sanger High.
Exponent file photos