Page 7 - Dinuba Sentinel 2-15-18 E-edition

Sports
“They’re a good team even without him. But it was a good team effort on our part.”
- Jeff Schofield, DHS Boy’s Basketball Coach
The Dinuba Sentinel
B1
Thursday, February 15, 2018
High School Basketball
Dinuba will likely enter playo s as the No. 4 seed. First round of Division III playo s begins Tuesday.
the Emperors jump out to an early lead by scoring 12 points in the opening quarter, including two key 3-pointers.
“Josh responded well,” said Schofield, who put Magaña in the starting line-up on Thursday. “He had a great game.”
His second 3-pointer sparked a 9-0 run for the Emperors to give them an 18-8 lead after the first quarter. It was the first time this season that Dinuba had a lead over the Bears after any quarter.
That lead continued throughout the night for the Emperors as more players began to get involved, including senior Elijah Mayberry who hit a turnaround jumper in the paint to start the second quarter, followed by a 3-pointer from the top of the key by junior
forward Luke Rodriguez. Magaña contributed another five points in the second quarter, including a 3-pointer he banked in from the right wing with just over a minute left in the half. The Emperors took a 34-20 lead
into halftime.
But the Bears didn’t go away easily. Selma stayed
aggressive on offense and midway through the third quarter managed to put together a 10-2 run to cut the Emperors’ lead to just three points, at 39-36.
Much of the Bears’ offense came from senior Manny Singh, who led Selma, and all scorers with 24 points, half of which came in the third quarter.
Rebounds, and second efforts in the paint, would hold Dinuba’s lead, however, as the Emperors closed out the quarter on a 9-1 run, a run that included another 3-pointer by Magaña. The late surge gave Dinuba a 48-37 lead going into the final quarter.
See Emperors, Page B6
Emperors upset top-ranked Bears
By Rick Curiel
Sports@thedinubasentinel.com
Dinuba High junior center John Calderon goes up for a shot in last Thursday’s upset victory over Selma. Calderon’s game in the paint, especially rebounding, helped the Emperors secure a 60-50 victory over the top-ranked Bears.
Rick Curiel | The Sentinel
One player, or the lack thereof, can make a big difference when it comes to the outcome of a game. Case in point, up until last Thursday the Selma varsity boy’s basketball team had been dominating the league, having gone 8-0 in the Central Sequoia League to take a commanding lead with playoffs just around the corner.
Thursday, however, the Bears traveled to Dinuba for their second league game of the year without their star strong forward, 6’6”
Tiveon Stroud. As a result, the
outcome of Thursday night’s
game was far different from the
teams’ first matchup, when Selma
soundly defeated Dinuba 86-45.
This time it was the Emperors who took control of the game, leading for almost the entirety, and coming away with a 60-50 upset over the first-place Bears.
“They’re a good team even
without him (Stroud),” said
Dinuba High boy’s basketball coach Jeff Schofield. “But it was a good team effort on our part.”
To get past the Bears, the Emperors would still have to contain the league’s second leading scorer, senior guard William Pallesi, who has been averaging 20 points a game this season.
Thursday night the Emperors did just that, holding Pallesi to just three points on the night, all coming from the line.
“Nathan Carrion did a good job guarding him,” said Schofield. “With help-side, we were able to guard him pretty well.”
In contrast, Dinuba sophomore Josh Magaña had another big night for the Emperors, helping
Dinuba boys start playoff run tonight at home
Emperors will
host Reedley in
quarter- nals
Sentinel staff report
If the Dinuba varsity boy’s soccer team wants to get their revenge on Selma, after being the only team the Emperors lost to in league this year, they’ll have to hope to meet them in the Division III championship game.
Dinuba lost to Selma twice this year, the first time back on Jan. 23, losing 4-2. Their most recent defeat to the Bears came last Wednesday when Dinuba lost a close 2-1 battle, giving Selma the league title. With the two defeats Dinuba finished in second place this year in league, the first time in four years that the Emperors finished anything less than first place.
But in order to get that rematch, Dinuba first needs to get past Reedley tonight in the Central Section’s first round of the Division III playoffs. The Emperors will host tonight’s matchup as the No. 4 seed, while the Pirates enter as the No. 5 seed.
The two teams have met once this year. Early in the season, back on Nov. 29, Dinuba scored a lone goal in the first half that would eventually be enough to win the low scoring game 1-0.
Reedley enters tonight’s game with an 11-9-4 overall record, having gone 6-4 in league play. Dinuba enters with a 14-7-2 overall record and went 8-2 this year in league.
If Dinuba were to win tonight’s matchup they will go on to play in the semi-finals on Tuesday.
Dinuba won the valley title game last year with an overtime goal by then Dinuba High senior Francisco Hernandez. The win over Madera South marked the Emperors’ second valley title in three years.
High School Soccer
Lady Cardinals make history, again
For the second year in a row, the Orosi High School varsity girl’s soccer team has made school history. Last year the team made history by becoming the first ever girl’s soccer team to win a league title. This year they topped that with not only another league title but by also going undefeated on the regular season. The Lady Cardinals finished the regular season with an incredible 25-0-2 record, the best record in the Valley. The team now enters the Central Section’s Division V playoffs as the No. 1 seed and were given a bye in the first round. They will host the quarter-finals game tomorrow night against the winner of the Coalinga and Kern Valley first-round matchup.
The Lady Cardinals are coached by Sara Vega and Estevan Diaz (Pictured above, far right and far left, respectively). This year’s team is (in no particular order) SayDee Alcala, Mireya Lua, Araceli Flores, Jacqueline Alberto, Stephanie Figueroa, Yulianna Cruz, Melanie Davila, Jocelyn Reynoso, Marissa Quezada, Mikala Montemayor, Evelyn Manzo, Karina Mondragon, Ashley Ruiz, Jeroldin Hernandez, Kimberly Caballero, Alexa Hernandez, Emily Gonzalez, Anapalmira Pena and Victoria Quevedo.
Orosi boys win league title, enter playo s as No. 5 seed
“It was a big win for the program.”
— Jeff Schofield Dinuba High boy’s basketball coach
Rick Curiel | The Sentinel
Sentinel staff report
After earning a share of the East Sierra League title last year with McFarland, with both teams going 9-1 in league, the Orosi Cardinals varsity boy’s soccer team went undefeated in league this year to win the outright league title.
The Orosi boy’s soccer team capped off their undefeated league season last Wednesday with an exclamation mark, dominating Summit Charter Collegiate Academy in an 11-0 league finale. With the victory, the Cardinals finished the season with
an 8-0-2 league record, and 15-9-5 overall. Their two ties in league were both to Farmersville, both games ending 1-1.
This marks the first year in over ten years that the Orosi boy’s soccer team has won an outright league title. Last year the team made it to the quarter-finals of the Central Section’s Division V playoffs as a No. 8 seed, but lost to No. 1 seeded McLane 5-2.
This year the team entered the playoffs as the No. 5 seed and took on No. 12 Woodlake on Tuesday. That game took place after publication. The Tigers enter with an 11-14-2 overall record and went 5-5 in the
East Sequoia League. The two teams played against each other in the season opener, back on Nov. 22. In that game, Orosi beat the Tigers 3-1.
Should the Cardinals defeat Woodlake on Tuesday, they will go on to play the winner of the Hoover and Parlier matchup today. Parlier, the No. 4 seed hosted Hoover, No. 13, on Tuesday. A Parlier victory would mean a road game for the Cardinals, but if Hoover were to pull of the upset, then Orosi will host tonight’s quarter-final game.
The semi-finals for the Division V playoffs will be held on Tuesday.