Page 22 - Mid Valley Times 1-23-20 E-edition

Reedley College
Tigers' mens' hoops drop rst two confernce games
MVT Staff Report
The Reedley High girls basketball team’s midseason roll continued into the start of North Yo- semite League play last week before eventually being stalled in Fresno against the Roosevelt High Rough Riders.
The Pirates (15-5, 1-1 NYL) ran their win streak to six games on Jan. 15, riding the strength of a strong third quarter and pulling away for a 56-39 victory over the Fresno High Warriors at RHS gym. But two nights lat- er, Reedley struggled of- fensively throughout in a 57-31 loss at Roosevelt. The Pirates attempt to get back on track this week with home games against McLane (Jan. 22) and Sunnyside (6:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 24)
Sophomore Miah Paz had a spectacular night against Fresno, hitting 6 of 13 from the field (3 of 5 from 3-point range) and 10 of 13 free throws for a game-high 25 points. In addition, she added 14 rebounds, a pair of steals and an assist. Senior Madison Haney scored nine points and collected seven rebounds and five assists while sophomore Brianna Green scored nine points while sinking all four of her shots from the field.
Paz drained all of her 3-point baskets in the opening quarter, help- ing RHS jump to a 15-9 lead after eight minutes. Fresno came back in the second quarter to narrow
By Will Goldbeck
Special to the Times
Reedley College suffered two heartbreaking road losses in Central Valley Conference men’s basketball action last week.
After leading 10th ranked Colum- bia College in the second half by 12 points, Reedley dropped a 90-79 deci- sion to the Claim Jumpers on Jan. 18 in Sonora. Three nights later in Visa- lia, Reedley dropped a 77-75 decision to the 11th ranked College of the Se- quoias Giants.
“Road games are always difficult but the last two games are showing that we can compete with some of the best teams in the state,” said coach T.J. Jennings. “We have to continue to fighting to get better as we definitely aren’t satisfied with just being close.
With five weeks to go in league, every game matters so we’ll keep grinding, trusting the process and each other.”
The losses left Jennings’ squad at 2-2 in conference action and 11-7 overall go- ing into a Jan. 22 7 p.m. contest at Mer- ced College (2-2, 8-8) before a Saturday afternoon (5 p.m.) battle with the fifth ranked Fresno City College Rams (4-0, 15-3). The Rams bring a five-game win- ning into a Wednesday night home game with West Hills Lemoore (0-4, 2-16).
In the loss to Sequoias, Uriah Cart- er led Reedley with 22 points wile An- thony Martinez hit six 3-pointers and finished with 21. Hassan Bolden added 14 points and 11 rebounds.
Against Columbia, Martinez finished with 25 points. Carter followed with 15 while Carlos Fuentes had 14. Bolden had 10 rebounds. All five Columbia starters scored in double figures.
Tigers baseball begins tomorrow
the deficit to one point at halftime, but the Pirates dominated the third quar- ter to build a double-digit lead.
Senior Daniela Go- mez, who collected two blocks and six rebounds, made a pair of baskets in the quarter while Haney added five points. Paz — who made all four of her foul shots in the third — then added two baskets
and 3 of 4 foul shots the final stanza to help RHS pull away.
Reedley collected 44 rebounds, 14 assists and six steals while as a team shooting 77 percent (17 of 22) from the free throw line.
The Pirates closed out the first round of league action on Wednesday, Jan. 29, against Hoover in a 6:30 p.m. varsity tipoff.
Thursday, Janaury 23, 2020
| B10 | Mid Valley TiMes
Reedley girls down Fresno but drop to
Roosevelt, ending six-game win streak
Lady Tigers upset top ten team
Contributed
Led by Aurelie Bevao’s 39 points, the Reedley College Lady Tigers’ basketball team upset the num- ber 10 team in Northern Califor- nia in Visalia Saturday afternoon. Bevao made all 14 of her free throws in Reedley’s 68-63 victory over the College of the Sequoias.
The Giants opened the Central Val- ley Conference contest by taking a 13-3 lead before Bevao and her team- mates got hot. An Amanpreet Kaur basket gave Reedley an 18-17 lead 85 seconds into the second quarter.
Kaur finished with a double-double as the freshman from Fowler recorded 10 points and 13 rebounds.
Bevao made 7 of 15 from the 3-point arc and 2-of-3 on two points to finish 9-of-18 from the field and made all 14 of
her free throws. She was the only Tiger to make a 3-point attempt as the rest of the team missed all 13 attempts.
She has battled injuries in her Reed- ley College career and has worked hard to battle back.
Point guard Chastity Martinez fin- ished with eight points and a season high 14 assists.
Reedley improved to 2-1 in CVC play and 7-12 overall while Sequoias fell to 1-3 in conference action and 7-12 overall.
Reedley College had a matchup on Wednesday, Jan. 22, with the Merced College Blue Devils and has a 3 p.m. home game on Saturday, Jan. 25, with the Fresno City College Rams. Both Merced and Fresno were easy winners last Saturday as the Rams rolled to a 100-33 win over Porterville while Mer- ced defeated Taft.
Danny Jimenez / Photo Contributed
Reedley High’s Miah Paz flipped up a shot over a pair of Fresno High defenders on Jan. 15. The sophomore guard scored 25 points and added 14 rebounds and two steals in a 56-39 Pirates victory.
By Will Goldbeck
Special to the Times
A new baseball season officially begins on Friday for the Reedley College Tigers with four games in five days.
Coach Steve Pearse’s squad opens the season on Friday with a 2 pm contest in Oakland against the Laney College Eagles. The weekend series continues with a noon Saturday contest against the College of Marin. On Sunday at noon, Reedley faces Sierra College at Marin.
The Tigers (15-23 overall and 12-9 in conference good for a fourth place tie last year) faced Sierra in a Monday scrimmage at the University of Pacific in Stockton.
Reedley’s home opener is on Tuesday, Jan. 28 against the Modesto Junior Col- lege Pirates at 2 pm. It will be the first of 21 home games for the Tigers, who open Central Valley Conference action at home on Feb. 18 against Taft College.
Reedley already has two veterans on the injured list. Infielder Mitchell Silvas is out with a dislocated kneecap while pitcher Peyton McNair has a back injury. Silva’s batted .283 with seven home runs last year while McNair had a 3.57 earned run average. “Silva’s had a real good fall for us,” said Pearse.
The list of veterans from last year’s squad includes catcher Danny Gamez (.263, who will team with freshman Jordan Smith
to handle the catching duties), outfielders Jake Renteria, Tresten Bumutay (.301) and Blake Costa (who was also converted to a pitcher), pitchers Alex Escobar (5-5, 3.47) and Harrison Moy and infielders Isaiah Haddad, JT Aranda and Alex Ortiz (.241), who has been converted to an outfielder. Jesse Holguin and Justin Tiger will handle the middle infield.
Pitching was a problem last season but the coach likes this year’s staff despite Mc- Nair’s injury. “Escobar’s back. He gave us some solid innings last year, threw about 80 innings and won five games for us last year. He’s been through it. Costa, we just made him into a pitcher last year. He pitched really well so he will be a pitcher only this year. Matt Mathis, a freshman, a big kid from Clovis East, is playing first and pitching. He’s done well on the mound for us.”
Cameron Gallardo, from Redwood High, has pitched well. “He’s probably got our best arm,” said the coach. Josiah Hes- hmaty, out of Bullard High, has a really good breaking ball. Matt Bugarin, a Fowler High product, was just made into a pitcher. The coach said Bugarin could redshirt but could stay on the squad due to McNair’s injury.
The outfield has been a revolving door. One Tiger, Schyler Sicoli, is back from two years ago after recovering from testicular cancer.
Lady Pirates medal at Chukchansi Invitational
Photo Contributed
Reedley High’s girls wrestling team competed in the Lady Chukchansi Invitational tour- nament on Jan. 17 at Madera South High School, with six wrestlers earning medals. Esther Villa (160 pounds) and Mia Garcia (235) finished in fourth place in their respec- tive weight classes while Alexis Tristan (111), Rocio Andrade (116), Jocelyn Barrera (131) and Estefani Gonzalez (235) all had sixth place finishes. The Pirates will compete in the Central Valley Showdown at Golden West High School in Visalia on Friday, Jan. 24, then host Orange Cove High in the annual “Manning Melee” at RHS gym on Thursday, Jan. 30. Girls varsity match is at 5 p.m. followed by the boys at 6 p.m.
First place on the line for Orosi, Fowler soccer
Tigers' softball will fight for the top
MVT Staff Report
Tomorrow’s soccer match between Fowler and Orosi High will be for sole possession in the West Sequoia League standings as both teams enter with a 5-0-1 record.
The match will take place at 5 p.m. in Orosi.
The two teams squared off back in December and played to a double over- time tie.
OHS coach Jesse Ca- marena expects the match to be close again.
“It’s going to be close but we play a little stron- ger and more confident at home,” he said.
The Lady Cardinals are riding a six-match win
streak and a 12-1-6 record while the Lady Redcats are 14-4-2 while capturing their last three matches.
“They have special weapons and so do we,” Camarena added.
In a 5-0 shutout win over Caruthers, Orosi used a balanced scor- ing attack to put away the Blue Raiders behind goals from Stephanie Figueroa, Victoria Que- vedo, Emely Gonzalez, Melanie Davila and Kari- na Chavez.
The Lady Cardinals, who have outscored their opponents 17-1 during the win streak, also de- feated Fresno Christian on Jan 14, 4-1. Amber Apodaca led the way with
two goals while Nathalia Figueroa and Gonzalez also scored.
Camarena credits the teams defense and the play of goalie of Mireya Lua.
“She’s phenomenal,” he added. “I couldn’t have asked for better goalie.”
•••
The Orosi High boys
team will look to try and put an end to an 11-match losing streak against Fowl- er tomorrow night a 6:45 p.m.
The Redcats held on for a 3-2 win in their first matchup.
Orosi (2-12-1, 1-4) has struggled offensively as they have been shut out five out of their last six matches.
Contributed
Another season of Reedley College softball is here.
Head Coach Kathy Kuball’s squad was scheduled to scrimmage the Tiger Alumni Saturday at noon before going to Salinas to scrimmage Hartnell College today. The official season opener will be at home on Tuesday, Jan. 28, at noon against Sacramento City College.
Last year, the Tigers were the run- ner-up to College of the Sequoias in the Central Valley Conference and were two wins away from a state tournament berth, finishing with a season record of 33-11.
The Tigers do have to replace pitcher Emily Grimbeby, who is now on the ros- ter at Humboldt State.
“We’ve got some good kids coming back that will do a good job for us,” said Kuball. “Catcher Sam Lizaola is looking good. Amanda Beltran is probably going to be doing a lot of our pitching.” Bob- bie Falcon and Karlie Fien return in the outfield along with utility player Shelby Ford is providing a lot of leadership.
Leading the list of freshmen is Ellie Montalvo, an infielder from Kerman. From the fall, Merced looked much im- proved.
“We always compete. We are always fighting for the top.”