Page 9 - Reedley Exponent 1-24-19 E-edition

B3 | Thursday, January 24, 2019 www.reedleyexponent.com Prep Boys Basketball
Eagles pull out 2 CSL thrillers
Pirates split pair of NYL home games
Staff Report
The Reedley High boys basketball team will use two home games this week to try to build momentum for Division 4 playoff action next month.
The Pirates (8-10, 1-3 North Yosemite League) will host Roosevelt at 6:30 p.m. Fri- day, Jan. 25, at RHS gym. They them entertain the Selma Bears in a 5:30 p.m. non-league con- test on Saturday, Jan. 26. The week began with a Jan. 23 league contest at Hoover.
"Now we're in a strong position to be in the playoffs and hopefully find ourselves winning a couple of games," coach Travis Ferrell said of the squad, which won a playoff games last season for the first time in recent years.
Reedley claimed its first NYL win of the season on Jan. 16, using a 13-0 first half to run gain the lead and eventually defeat McLane, 68-61.Senior guard Jordon Chavez scored 16 points, including a couple of baskets during the first quarter run. Sophomore point guard Aaron Todd chipped in with a season-high 14 points while guard Augie Villarreal added 10 points.
Ferrell said the team used a strategy of slowing its usual up-tempo strategy against a physically-talented Division I Sunnyside team on Jan. 18 art RHS. It worked for much of the game as the Pirates held the lead before the Wildcats turned up defensive trap pressure and rallied for a 51-47 victory.
"We gave ourselves a great opportunity to win, but just couldn't close it out," Ferrell said.
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Last second shots by Yamada, Rodriguez lift IHS to 7-0 in league play
Staff Report
The Immanuel High boys' two Central Sequoia League basketball games last week weren't for the faint at heart.
First, on Jan. 16 at IHS gym, the Eagles fought from behind to force overtime and in the extra session a three-point basket from sophomore guard Landon Yamada with five seconds remaining pulled out a 66-65 victory over Central Valley Christian.
Then on Jan. 18, Immanuel stormed back from a 13-point deficit with just more than two minutes remaining, getting a coast-to- coast driving layup from guard Jordan Ro- driguez to come away with a stunning 78-77 victory. The thrilling wins gave the Eagles (15-6 overall) a 7-0 record and two-game lead in CSL play entering the Jan. 22 home game with Exeter (results were unavailable at press time).
"Our guys battled all week. They were down big and never gave up," said coach Chris Woods. "They showed great maturity and experience being able to go on runs to finish and win both games."
It was a busy for week Immanuel, which also posted a 78-73 win over North Bakers- field on Jan. 19 in Fresno at the Edison Show- case. The Eagles then dropped an 81-59 deci-
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Jon Earnest / The Exponent
Immanuel High's Landon Yamada (3) dribbled upcourt while Eagles teammate Shawn Rodgers (11) ran the wing against Central Valley Christian on Jan. 16. Yamada's three-point basket from the left corner in the final five seconds of overtime gave Immanuel a 66-65 victory over the Cavaliers.
RHS soccer teams win big
'Melee on Manning' set for Jan. 25 as RHS wrestling visits Orange Cove
Staff Reports
The Reedley High boys soc- cer team maintained its hold on sole possession of first place in the North Yosemite League with a pair of strong offensive perfor- mances at home last week.
The Pirates (13-6-2, 4-0) erupt- ed for three first-half goals and went on to a rainy 4-3 victory over McLane on Jan. 16 at Sal Gonzalez Field. Two nights later, the team rode the strength of two first-half scores to put away visiting Sunny- side High. 3-1.
The latter match was halted by the officials in the 71st minute
because of physical play.
On Jan. 23, Reedley traveled
to Fresno to play Hoover High, then hosts Roosevelt in the second round of league play at 5:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 25.
GIRLS
First place Pirates post two shutout victories Reedley High rolled into a
Jan. 22 showdown for first place in the NYL against Hoover on the momentum of two shutout victo- ries on the road in league play last week.
On Jan. 15, the Pirates (10- 6-4, 4-0) blanked McLane 4-0 as Emma Mulligan, Amanda Lopez, Felycia Rosas and Emma Espino all scored goals. Then, powered by four goals from Mulligan, RHS trounced Sunnyside, 7-0, on Jan. 17. Miko Sunamoto added two goals while Jocilynn Pueblas also scored.
Results of the Pirates-Patriots contest on Jan. 22 were unavail-
Preps Roundup
able at press time. The two teams will play again on Monday, Feb. 4, in Fresno.
Eagles still seeking
first CSL victory
The Immanuel High girls
still are on search of that elusive first Central Sequoia League soc- cer victory after suffering losses last week against Central Valley Christian (3-1 on Jan. 16) and at Kingsburg (7-0 on Jan. 18). The Eagles are winless in seven league matches and are 7-9-4 overall.
Immanuel hosted Exeter on Jan. 22 and will travel to third place Dinuba at 4:30 p.m. Thurs- day, Jan. 24.
WRESTLING 'Manning Melee' will involve boys and girls teams Reedley and Orange Cove
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Danny Jimenez / Photo Contributed
Reedley High School's Phillip Rico soared high to gain possession from Sunnyside High defender Rey Verdugo (4) during the two teams' North Yosemite League boys soccer match on Jan. 18. The Pirates won, 3-1, to improve to 4-0 in league play.
Tigers men rout West Hills Lemoore, lose at Columbia
Jon Earnest / The Exponent
Reedley College's Ruben Parks (22) drew a foul from West Hills Col- legeLemoore'sDylanGonzalez(25)inthefirsthalfoftheteams' Cen- tral Valley Conference game on Jan. 16. Parks, a sophomore guard, scored a game-high 38 points in a 109-81 Tigers victory.
Contributed, staff reports
The two-game winning streak for the Reedley College men’s basketball team came to an end Jan. 19 in Sonora.
Columbia College used the 3-pointer to outscore the Tigers 88-63 in Central Valley Conference action. The loss dropped the Tigers to 2-5 in conference play and 8-10 overall while Columbia improved to 5-1 and 14-4.
Maurice Woods hit five 3-pointers and had 25 points for the Claim Jump- ers while Marcus Spivey netted three treys and finished with 29 for the win- ners.
Ruben Parks led Reedley with 13 points while Khalid Wilkins finished with 12.
Parks netted 38 points as the Tigers rallied from an early six-point deficit to outscore the winless West Hills Lem- oore Golden Eagles 109-81 on Jan. 16 in Reedley.
Uriah Carter followed with 24 for the winners while James Hannah had a double-double with 16 points, 15 re-
bounds and five blocked shots. Wilkins added 14 points.
Reedley is home for a pair of con- ference doubleheaders this week. The Tigers faces West Hills Coalinga on Jan. 23 before a 3 p.m. matchup on Satur- day, Jan. 26, with the first place Fresno City College Rams. Reedley starts the second round of conference action on Wednesday, Jan. 30, at Porterville Col- lege.
Kendricks, Horn contribute as reserves in FPU victory Immanuel High School products
Nate Kendricks and R.J. Horn both con- tributed off the bench as Fresno Pacific University evened its season record at 8-8 with a 61-57 PacWest Conference basketball victory over Notre Dame de Namur on Jan. 19 at the Special Events Center in Fresno.
Freshman guard Kendricks sank both of his shots from the field and both free throw attempts to finish with six points in 19 minutes of action. He added three defensive rebounds and three as- sists, as the Sunbirds (5-6 conference)
Colleges
build a 13-points halftime lead and held off a rally by the Argos (0-17, 0-11 Pac- West).
Horn, a redshirt sophomore guard, missed his lone shot from the field but made both free throw attempts and fin- ished with two points. He added a re- bound and an assist while playing nine minutes.
Fresno Pacific, riding a two-game conference win streak, resumes Pac- West play on Thursday, Jan. 24, with a 7:30 p.m. road game against Azusa Pa- cific.
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Tigers fall at home to COS
Half of the Central Valley Confer- ence women’s basketball games for the Reedley College Lady Tigers are in a span of seven days.
The first of those contests came on Jan. 19 as the fourth ranked team in
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RC baseball, softball teams open respective seasons this week
By Will Goldbeck
For The Exponent
With a lot of new faces, the 2019 version of the Reedley College base- ball Tigers begins the new season this weekend.
Head Coach Steve Pearse’s squad travels to Oakland on Friday, Jan. 25, for a 2 p.m. season opener at Laney College. The Tigers will face College of Alameda on Saturday, Jan. 26, at
Laney before a 1 p.m. matchup on Sunday, Jan. 27, against Sierra Col- lege on a neutral field at Skyline Col- lege in San Bruno.
The home opener is set for 1 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 31 against Bakers- field College.
The 2019 Tiger roster features eight players from the 2018 squad that tied for second place in the Cen- tral Valley Conference with a 15-6
record and an overall mark of 28-15. The biggest concern is pitching as the Tigers return hurlers with just over 31 innings of experience out of the 339-2/3 innings pitched last sea- son.
The only veteran pitchers are Andrew Mendoza (Sanger, 2-1) and Masyn Ashworth (Clovis, 1-1).
Pearse said he may try the “open- er” concept used by a few major
league teams last season. A reliever would pitch one inning before a spot starter and other pitchers from the bullpen finish the game.
One of the starting pitchers will be Alex Escobar, a freshman out of Central Catholic High School in Modesto.
“After that, it’s tough,” said the coach. “We will see what happens.”
The returning position players
are led by catcher Mitchell Craw- ford, who played in a community col- lege all-star game in Elk Grove last October. As a freshman, Crawford batted .273 and drove in 20 runs.
Other veterans include infield- ers Hans Brown (Immanuel), Nick Martinez (Madera) and Josh Mares (Selma, who hit three homers in
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