Page 13 - Mid Valley Times 1-2-2020 E-edition

MVT File Photo
Sanger High junior Luke Dillon scored 20 points in a 48-47 win over Buchanan on Dec. 27.
Emperors lose first
game, go 2-2 at
Willhelmsen tourney
Dinuba faces two tough road games in Immanuel, Friday, and Kingsburg, Tuesday
MVT Staff Report
The Dinuba High boys basketball team entered the 69th Annual Poly Will- helmsen tournament with an impressive 12-0 mark.
By tourney’s end, the Emperors exited with a 2-2 record including a 65-59 loss to Redwood on Saturday afternoon at Mt. Whitney High.
On Friday against Mt. Whitney, the Emperors rallied from a 26-15 half- time deficit with a 36-17 second half surge in a 51- 43 win. Junior forward Bryan Ruiz came off the bench to lead Dinuba in scoring with 18 points in- cluding five 3-pointers.
El Diamante handed Dinuba its first loss of the season with a 69-52 win on Thursday, Dec. 26.
The Emperors opened the tourney with a 63-61
SeeEMPERORSonpage B2
MVT Staff Report
The Sanger High varsity boys’ basket- ball team earned a spot in Monday night’s championship game of the Clovis Elks Bas- ketball Tournament after edging out Bu- chanan High on Dec. 27, 48-47.
The Apaches, who were coming off a 61-33 blowout over East Bakersfield in the opening round on Dec. 26, jumped out to an early lead against the Div. 1 Bears. Af- ter outscoring Buchanan 15 to 8 in the first quarter, Sanger was able to take a 26-22 lead into halftime.
The Bears, however, rallied in the third quarter as they reversed the first quarter scoring differential to outscore Sanger 15 to 8, taking a 37-34 lead into the final quarter.
With just three seconds remaining in the game, the Apaches found themselves tied with Buchanan, 47-47. Sanger High junior Luke Dillon was then sent to the line after being fouled on a pass lateral. He sank one of two free throws to give the Apaches the one point edge as Sanger held on to win the game.
Dillon finished the game with a team- high 20 points. He also pulled down nine rebounds and had three assists.
Jon Dillon also scored in double digits for the Apaches, finishing with 14 points and five rebounds.
The difference in the game may have come down to free throws, as Sanger shot
nearly 70 percent from the line (18 of 26) while Buchanan made only 8 of their 13 free throws. L. Dillon shot 9 of 12 from the line while J. Dillon was 6 of 9.
The victory over the Bears set up a championship game for Apaches as they played Lincoln High of Stockton on Mon- day night.
Lincoln, who entered the championship game with a 12-1 overall record, also earned their spot with a close semifinal victory. The Trojans beat Chavez High on Dec. 28, 73-70.
Results from Monday night’s champion- ship game were not available at press time. Sanger went into the championship
game with an 8-4 overall record.
In Sanger’s lopsided victory over East
Bakersfield on Dec. 27, three Apaches fin- ished in double digits. Leading the way was freshman Kaleb Cole, who finished with a double-double, scoring 17 points and hauling in 10 rebounds.
Freshman Frankie Piceno pitched in 12 points as Sanger’s freshmen scored 33 of the Apaches’ 61 points. Sophomore Alejandro Mendibles finished with 11 points.
The Apaches return to the court to- morrow night when they host Clovis West. Tipoff for the game is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.
Saturday, Sanger will play Lemoore in Sanger’s Central Valley Showdown. Tipoff for that game is scheduled for 7 p.m.
George M. Villagrana / Mid Valley Times
Dinuba High senior shooting guard Elias Flores was one of four players who reached double figures in a 84-51 win over Liberty-Madera Ranchos on Dec. 17.
The Emperors, who had gone 12 games without a loss, will face a tough challenge tomorrow night when they face Immanuel High in Reedley. Tomorrow night's tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
By Jon Earnest
Mid Valley Times
It’s been a rough early season for the injury-ravaged Reedley High girls soccer team. And the Dec. 27 non-league contest with the Fowler High Redcats epitomized how the first month of play has transpired.
The Pirates (2-11-2) jumped to a 2-0 halftime lead thanks to goals by Trin- ity Toews and Natalie Reyes. But the Redcats (11-4-1) stormed back, scoring in the first two minutes and finishing with four unanswered goals to post a 4-2 victory at Sal Gonzalez Field. Com- pounding the situation were injuries to two more starters, goalkeeper Em-
ily White and sophomore forward and captain Diana Rios.
“This [match] is the story of our sea- son]. Honestly, it is,” said RHS coach Bladimir Pizano. “We’ve got more in- juries than we can handle. We’ve been without two starters [senior forward Jen Gordillo and junior midfielder Amanda Lopez] who have been start- ing for the last three years.
“We knew we were going to have a lot of inexperience [after losing 16 players from the 2018 North Yosemite League co-champions]. The problem is, we didn’t bank on so many injuries. We’ve had a lot of games that had we
See REEDLEY on page B2
Thursday, January 2, 2020
Apaches edge Buchanan for tourney championship bid
Sanger will host Clovis West tomorrow night
Reedley High’s Diana Rico (12) challenged Fowler High’s Alyssa Silva for possession during the second half of the Pirates’ 4-2 non-league loss to the Redcats at RHS’ Sal Gonzalez Field on Dec. 27.
Tough Fowler High team rallies in second half, beats Reedley girls 4-2
Jon Earnest / Mid Valley Times