Page 13 - Reedley Exponent 3-1-18 E-edition

IMMANUEL
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No. 2 seed Tulare Western High.
The game was played on Feb. 27. No score was avail- able at presstime.
If the Eagles win they would advance to the Cen- tral Section Division III title game on Saturday, March 3 at Selland Arena in Fresno.
Daglish said he was happy the team held on for the win against West High.
“I feel like we came out and took it to them,” Daglish said. “They came back into it and our bench did a good job keeping us in it.”
Coach Woods said that Daglish's performance was the catalyst.
“He was huge for us to- night,” Woods said. “Every time a shot went up and it bounce out it found his hands. He was able to finish around the basket.”
Woods was also happy with the performance of the bench, including Gavin Lloyd who had eight points.
“Our bench was awesome tonight,” Woods said. “Gavin played great. He did the little things he needed to do and had two dunks that gave us early energy.”
Daglish said he hopes the team's bond that's been built over the last few weeks leads them to a championship.
“We have come together as a team really good,” Da- glish said. “All the relation- ships on this team are good and we play together.”
IHS Baseball
The Immanuel High Eagles baseball team earned their first win of the season on Feb. 20 against Lemoore High School.
The Eagles defeated the Tigers 3-1 in Lemoore.
Roman Rosales picked up the win on the mound pitching five innings, allowing no hits and striking out 10 batters.
TheReedleyExponent B5Thursday,March1,2018
Titans win D-VI title
Gaven Brown had two RBIs, while Rosales had one.
The Eagles defeated Hoover High 11-1 on Feb. 24 at the Immanuel High School Sports Complex.
Dillon Kent was the win- ning pitcher.
Chris Gurrola, Bradley Collins-Dunn and Rosales
each had two RBIs. Immanuel played Lind-
say High on Feb. 27. No score was available at presstime. The Eaglesthen will play Caruthers High on Thursday, March 1, at the Immanuel High Sports Complex.
Orange Cove High School / Photo Contributed
The Orange Cove High Titans boys soccer team captured their first Section Championship on Feb. 23, with a 3-1 penalty kick win over No. 1 seed Strathmore High School. The Titans, the No. 7 seed, reached the finals with these wins: 4-2 over No. 10 seed Wonderful Prep College in overtime on Feb. 13 in Orange Cove; 3-1 over No. 2 seed Dos Palos High in overtime on Feb. 15 in Dos Palos; and 2-1 over No. 3 seed Exeter High on Feb. 20 in Exeter. The Orange Cove Titans are Coached by Daniel Banuelos, HoracioBravo,WilliamSanchez andJoseSegura.
Chris Aguirre / The Exponent
Gavin Lloyd, Immanuel High Eagles basketball player, goes up for a slam dunk against West High of Bakersfield on Feb. 22 at Immanuel High. Lloyd finished with eight points.
CHAMPIONS
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“I have to give the credit to the person I look up to, Coach Perez,” Prieto said. “He told me to fake back and then run in to the first post. It worked.”
With two minutes left in the game and the Pirates on the verge of capturing the title, Redwood's Perez headed in a goal to tie the game at 2-2.
This sent the game into over- time.
Heading into penalty kicks against Redwood, Coach Velarde thought back to the quarterfinals match against Dinuba High on Feb. 16.
Leyva also had the winning save in that game to give the Pi- rates a controversial but intense 11-10 win over Dinuba.
This gave Coach Velarde confidence in his team against Redwood.
“I told the team right be- fore the beginning of penalty kicks that whatever happens we have Marco and the other team doesn't,” Velarde said. “He ex- cels at penalty kicks. We had been through this situation before so it wasn't a big deal.”
Alexis Rodriguez said he was thrilled to finally win a champion- ship after the Pirates season had ended in the semifinals the past three years.
“I've come up short every year I have been on the team. It means so much to be able to win it as a senior,” Rodriguez said. “We knew we could do it. We just had to believe in ourselves.”
Rodriguez said the fan sup- port during the playoff run is something he will never forget.
“To have the fans rush the field was the best thing ever,” Rodriguez said. “They have been incredible all season and be- lieved in us. I want to thank them for making this game feel like a home game.”
Alfonso Jimenez, a senior, was in tears after the game while hugging his teammates and friends and family who showed up to support him.
“Winning meant everything to me,” Jimenez said. “The roller coaster of emotions was very tough. Knowing we were playing the biggest game of our lives. We never gave up on each other and I knew we had just put Reedley High on the map.”
When Leyva blocked the
kick, Jimenez said he broke down.
“I was in shock, I couldn't be- lieve it,” Jimenez said. “I was cry- ing tears of happiness knowing that our hard work paid off. We deserved to be champions after being so close so many years.”
The Pirates were coming of a 3-2 victory over Tulare Western High in the semifinals of the Di- vision II playoffs on Feb. 20 at Sal Gonzalez Field.
Emmanuel Ibarra, Rico and Jimenez each scored a goal for Reedley High.
Coach Velarde said while winning the Section Champion- ship was important for the play- ers, it also was a special moment for the city of Reedley.
“It means a lot to the play- ers that won it, but it may mean more to the alumni that are here celebrating with us like they had won it. They love this program,” Velarde said. “We know how big soccer is in Reedley. We know the impact it has. This sets a standard for the program that we hope to maintain over the years.”
Chris Aguirre / The Exponent
Krystale Gutierrez, Immanuel High Eagles girls basketball senior, helped lead the Eagles to the semi- finals of the CIF Central Section Division III playoffs.
Rene Prieto, Reedley High Pirates soccer player No. 19, scored two goals in the Pirates' win over Redwood High on Feb. 23 in Visalia. The game was tied 2-2 after regulation and the Pirates defeated the Rangers 5-4 in penalty kicks to win the Division II Section Championship.
Chris Aguirre / The Exponent
HOOPS
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No score was available at presstime.
With a win over Fresno High, Immanuel would play in the Division III Championship game on Saturday, March 3 at Selland Arena in Fresno.
REEDLEY
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Hills earlier in the season gave our team some con- fidence that we could play with them,” Ferrell said. “We have a team full of guys who are good at what they do. We looked more poised and con- fident and led us to the win.”
It was Reedley High's first playoff win since 2004. That year the team won the Section Championship.
“You can't really put what this win meant into words.
It was a special moment,” Ferrell said.
The Pirates lost 66-31 to Foothill High of Ba- kersfield on Feb. 22 in the quarterfinals.
Despite the loss, Coach Ferrell said he was happy with the progress the team made.
“For the team to know my expectations and what my three-year or five-year plan for the program is and to surpass it in year two meant a lot to the team and meant a lot to the coaching staff and community,” Fer- rell said. “We got a lot of shouts on social media, so it was really cool.”
Coach Ferrell is look- ing forward to continuing to build the program.
“Having close games against Division II and III op- ponents really put our play- ers in a better state of mind against opponents in the play- offs.” Ferrell said. “The play- ers were hungry, and they were ready to go execute. This experience gives us the confidence that we are head- ing in the right direction with the program.”
They would play the win- ner of the game between the No. 2 seed Golden Valley High on Bakersfield and No. 3 seed Selma High.
Check the Reedley Ex- ponent Facebook page for updated information.
Heading into the rest of playoffs, Todd said he is telling the team just to stay focused.
RHS Baseball
The Reedley High Pi- rates baseball team opened the season with an 8-0 win over Dinuba High School on Feb. 16 in Dinuba.
Oscar Lemus earned the win on the mound pitch- ing five innings, allowing no runs and striking out seven batters.
JP Preciado had four RBIs, while Kevin Hernan- dez had two. Justin Quinta- nilla had one.
The Pirates played
“We are going to stay fo- cused on the goal and are not going to allow anyone or anything to distract us from reaching that goal,” Todd said. “I told them to not take any of these moments for granted and leave it all on the court. The championship is there for the taking.”
Sanger High School on Feb. 22. They then played Madera South High School on Feb. 24.
Reedley High continued play in the Central Valley Diamond Classic on Feb. 28 against Golden West High School in Visalia.
No score was available at presstime.
They will play Lemoore High School on Saturday, March 3, in Lemoore and then play Selma High School on Wednesday, March 7, at Reedley High School.
of the Week
Kaleb Daglish - Immanuel
High School Basketball
Kaleb Daglish
had 31 points to lead the Eagles
to a 88-82 victory over West High
of Bakers eld
on Feb. 22 in the quarter nals of the CIF Central Section Division III playo s.
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