Hawks pressed into loss to Mendota
Wendy Alexander/The Madera Tribune
Liberty’s Annalise Holland gets off a shot in a Wednesday loss to the Mendota Aztecs.
The Liberty Hawks girls basketball team used an 11-0 second quarter run to get back into the game against the Mendota Aztecs, but were outpressed in a 46-31 loss.
The Hawks tied the game late in the first half, but the Aztecs hit a 3-pointer just before the final buzzer and held a 23-20 lead midway through the third quarter.
“I feel like we did things right today that we didn’t do right in our last home game,” head coach Ashley Chavira said. “It’s all mental errors with them.”
Then, the press happened. Liberty turned the ball over eight times and took just one shot in a 14-0 run to give Mendota a 37-21 third quarter lead and control of the game.
“They have to realize they ran the press break the whole first half and it worked,” Chavira said. “They tried to rush things and go at Mendota’s pace, it threw us off. We need to stick with our game just like we did in the first half.”
Madie Devine led the Hawks with a double-double. She led the team with 16 points and also pulled down 12 rebounds. However, the rest of the Hawks scored 15 points.
Annalise Holland pitched in 13 points to go with five offensive rebounds. Rachel Coop also pulled down 12 rebounds to go with five offensive rebounds.
It took the Hawks until midway through the first quarter to score their first points when Devine made a driving bucket to tie the score at two. Liberty took the lead on a Camile Vestal free throw.
However, Mendota scored the next eight points, taking advantage of five missed Liberty shots and five turnovers for an 11-3 lead at the end of the first quarter.
The Hawks started a comeback. Devine found Karsyn Woods for a layup and Devine hit a 12-footer to cut the lead to four before Mendota hit a 3-pointer for a 14-7 lead.
Neither team scored over the next two minutes before Mendota made two free throws and a short jumper for a 7-0 run and an 18-7 lead.
Then, the Hawks, and Devine, shot their way back to tie the score.
Devine started the run by gathering her own miss and hitting a seven-footer. She followed that with a 12-foot jumper and a 15-footer. Holland pulled down an offensive rebound and Woods made a layup to cut the lead to 18-15.
Holland made a free throw with a minute left and Devine tied the score with a driving bucket with about 30 seconds left.
Unfortunately, Mendota took the halftime lead with a 3-pointer just before the halftime buzzer.
The Aztec scored the first points of the second half with a layup, but Devine answered with a layup. Then, Mendota went on its run, starting with a 3-pointer.
Then, the Hawks went seven straight possessions without attempting a shot while committing a turnover, most in the back court. Mendota made three layups in the run to open a 37-20 lead.
Vestal made a free throw to stop the run, but the Hawks trailed by 16 heading into the fourth quarter.
A Mendota bucket gave the Aztecs an 18-point lead before Holland found Devine for a layup. A Mendota 3-pointer and a free throw capped a 20-3 run for a 43-23 lead.
The Hawks got a 15-foot jumper from Brianna Melgoza and two 3-pointer from Kaylee White for their final eight points while outscoring Mendota 10-9 in the fourth quarter.
