Page 9 - Mid Valley Times 12-30-21 e-Edition

Thursday, December 30, 2021
Emps take second at Wilhelmsen Invitational
Drop 46-42 thriller in finals to unbeaten host team Mt. Whitney
Some nights they fall better than others."
On this night, Dinuba was able to hit some big baskets, but managed just one three- point basket (by Keine Pren- dez, in the final eight minutes. Isaiah Martinez had a trio of triples, two in the third quar- ter as his seven points fueled a 12-9 DHS advantage in the period.
Martinez and Prendez fin- ished with 13 and nine points, respectively, and both were named to the all-tournament squad. Martinez had 25 points in a 58-56 semifinal win over Porterville on Dec, 22, while Prendez led the way with 16 points in a 56-43 win over Cen- tral Sequoia League rival Han- ford West on Dec. 21.
"We've got a really smart group of guys that are coach- able, where we can move
SeeBASKETBALLonpage A16
RC men's
basketball
drops 4th
straight
By Will Goldbeck
For The Times
The losing streak has reached four games for the Reedley College Tiger men's basketball team after a 60-59 loss at Canada College in Redwood City on Dec. 22.
Coach TJ Jennings' squad will take a 4-10 record into the start of Central Valley Confer- ence play on Wednes- day, Jan. 5, at West Hills College-Lemoore.
Against Canada, Anthony Martinez led Reedley with 19 points, 8 assists, and three steals. The Tigers nearly nearly wiped out all of a 36-21 half- time deficit against the Colts. Jamar Bowers followed with 11 points for the Tigers.
Reedley College will have consecutive CVC home games against Columbia (Jan. 12), College of the Sequioias (Jan. 15) and Merced College (Jan. 19).
By Jon Earnest
Mid Valley Times
It may not have been a scoring shootout, but the fi- nals of the 70th annual Polly Wilhelmsen Invitational bas- ketball tournament on Dec. 23 hardly disappointed the estimated 1,000 fans in atten- dance at Mt. Whitney High's Charles Marshall Court in Visalia.
The host Pioneers – buoyed by a Kirk Gibson-esque ef- fort off the bench from tour- ney Most Valuable Player Carter Glick — rallied in the final quarter to defeat Dinu- ba High 46-42, improving to a perfect 16-0 on the season. The Emperors fell to 15-2 and had their 11-game win streak snapped.
"We battled them tough, and came up a little short. But we have nothing to be
ashamed of," said Emps coach Jeff Schofield, whose words are a bit prophetic as the team has no player taller than 6 foot, 1 inch.
The team's recipe to suc- cess — an up-tempo outside shooting strategy with aggres- sive pressure defense includ- ing some three-quarter court trapping — was successful for three quarters, as Dinuba built a 33-29 lead after three quarters spurred by a variety of zone defenses that the cold- shooting Pioneers couldn't capitalize against.
But in the fourth period, Glick – Mt. Whithey's leading scorer who sat out the first half in street clothes after rolling his ankle in a semifi- nals victory before suiting up for the second half against the Emps – got untracked and scored all six of his points down the stretch.
Jon Earnest / Mid Valley Times
Dinuba High's Anthony Harp drove to the basket against Mt. Whitney defender Joey Saauedra during the first half of the Emperors' 46-42 loss to the Pioneers in the finals of the Polly Wilhelmsen Invitational in Visalia on Dec. 23.
After a strip steal and la- yup by Glick made it 38-35 Pioneers, the senior then sank four clutch free throws down the stretch. The final foul shot came with 7.9 seconds remain-
ing, icing the win.
"What we have to do is
start scoring the ball better, but our defense has been sol- id this year," Schofield said. "We rely on shooting the ball.
BOYS BASKETBALL
Apaches edge Pirates in soccer thriller
Dinuba girls hoop places 2nd at own Holiday Classic
MVT Staff Report
The Sanger High Apaches and Reedley High Tigers boys soccer teams battled for rivalry supremacy on a cold, drizzly Dec. 22 evening in Tom Flores Stadium.
In a hard-fought and evenly- played match, the Apaches (8- 1-1) made the lone goal count when forward Isaiah Villalobos converted on a shot in front of the net in the 52nd minute for a 1-0 triumph. Goalkeeper Uriel Velasquez and the SHS defense made the lead stand up, as Sanger continued to began an- other win streak in the wake of its first loss of the season at the Clovis Central Valley Showcase earlier in the month.
Reedley (7-4-1) made a num- ber of strong offensive pushes in the first half, including one where a potential go-ahead goal slammed off the crossbar. The Pirates turned in a strong performance that came on the heels of a second place perfor- mance in the platinum division of the Central Valley Showcase.
It's now on to final tuneups before league play for both Sanger and Reedley when the 2022 portion of the sched-
ule kicks off next week. The Apaches will tune up for their County Metro Athletic Confer- ence opener against Madera (Jan. 12) with a Tuesday, Jan. 4, non-league road match against Central High. The match be-
ABOVE: Reedley High's Levy Alcantar looked to dribble past Sanger's Nikko Ortega (22) during the first half on Dec. 22.
LEFT: Sanger's Isaiah Villalo- vos is greeted by coach Alex Gutierrez after scoring the only goal of the match.
Photos by Jon Earnest / Mid Valley Times
gins at 5:30 p.m. at Koligian Stadium in Fresno.
Reedley had a home match with Clovis scheduled on Dec. 28, then visits Tulare Western on Tuesday, Jan. 4 (6 p.m.) be- fore hosting Clovis West at 5
p.m. Thursday, Jan. 6. The Pi- rates begin North Yosemite League play on Tuesday, Jan. 11, at home against Fresno High.
GIRLS BASKETBALL Lady Emps go 3-1 at own tournament
Host Dinuba posted a 3-1 record — 2-1 against varsity competition — to bring home second place at the Dinuba Holiday Classic at DHS.
The Lady Emps (7-4) defeat- ed the Dinuba JV team (43-25 on Dec. 20), Tulare Western (31- 26 on Dec. 21) and Kingsburg (29-24 on Dec. 22) before drop- ping a 54-35 decision to Central High in the finals on Dec. 23.
Juniors Talia Maxwell (voted tournament MVP) and T'yanna Armstrong (all-tourney) scored 21 and 19 points for the Griz- zlies, who broke open a 36-30 lead entering the final quarter with an 18-2 blitz the final eight minutes.
Senior guard-forward Kai- ley Lopez scored 16 points for Dinuba, and earned all-tourna- ment status along with Dinuba JV player Julissa Esparito.
Dinuba opened play against Ridgeview in the Arvin Tourna- ment on Dec. 28, and play con- tinued with games on Dec. 29
SeePREPSonpage A16
PREPS ROUNDUP
THURSDAY, DEC. 30 BASKETBALL
Dinuba girls vs. TBA at Arvin Tournament,
PREP SPORTS SCHEDULE FOR DEC. 30 TO DEC. 29
Arvin HS, time TBA (V)
Dinuba JV girls vs. TBA at Selma JV Tournament, Selma HS, time TBA (JV) Reedley JV girls vs. TBA at Selma JV Tournament, Selma HS, time TBA (JV) Sanger boys at Damian Lillard Classic, Oakland, times TBA (V)
Sanger JV boys Clovis West JV Tournament, Clovis West HS. times TBA (JV)
Sanger freshman boys Clovis West Frosh Tournament, Clovis West HS. times TBA (JV) Sanger girls vs. TBA at Arvin Tournament, Arvin HS, time TBA (V)
Sanger JV girls vs. TBA at Selma JV Tournament, Selma HS, time TBA (JV)
Dinuba/Reedley boys at The Bash, Dinuba HS, 9 a.m. (V)
WRESTLING
Orosi girls vs. Minarets, Minarets HS O'Neals, 3/6 p.m. (JV/V)
Parlier boys vs. Caruthers, Caruthers HS, 5/8 p.m. (JV/V)
7 p.m. (V)
Parlier boys vs. Caruthers, Caruthers HS, 5 p.m. (V)
Parlier girls vs. Caruthers, Caruther HS, 3:45 p.m. (V)
Reedley boys vs. Tulare Western, Tulare Western HS, 4:30/6 p.m. (JV/V)
Reedley girls vs. Mission Oak, Mission Oak HS Tulare, 4:30/6 p.m. (JV/V)
Sanger boys vs. Central, Koligian Stadium Fresno, 3/5 p.m. (JV/V)
Sanger girls vs. Kingsburg, Kingsburg HS, 3/5 p.m. (JV/V)
TUESDAY, JAN. 4 BASKETBALL
Dinuba boys vs. Immanel, Immanuel HS gym,
Parlier girls vs. Caruthers, Caruthers HS, 3:30/6:30 p.m. (JV/V)
Sanger girls vs. Roosevelt, Roosevelt HS Fresno, 5/6:30 p.m. (JV/V)
5:30/7 p.m. (JV/V)
Dinuba girls vs. Immanel, Dinuba HS, 5:30/7 p.m. (JV/V)
Dinuba frosh/JV boys vs. TBA at Lemoore JV Tournament, Lemoore, times TBA (F/JV) Orange Cove boys vs. Fowler, Fowler HS, 4/5:30 p.m. (JV/V)
Orange Cove girls vs. Fowler, Fowler HS, 7 p.m. (V)
Orosi boys vs. Minarets, Minarets HS O'Neals, 4:30/7:30 p.m. (JV/V)
SOCCER
Dinuba vs. Immanuel, Dinuba HS, girls match at 4:30 p.m./boys match at 6 p.m. (V) Orange Cove boys vs. Fowler, Fowler HS, 3:45 p.m. (V)
Orange Cove girls vs. Fowler, Fowler HS, 5:30 p.m. (V)
Orosi boys vs. Minarets, Minarets HS O'Neals, 5:30 p.m. (JV)
WEDNESDAY, JAN. 5 BASKETBALL
Sanger boys vs. Clovis, Nicholson Gym
Orosi girls vs, Minarets, Minarets HS O'Neals,
Sanger HS, 3:30/5/6:30 p.m. All)