Stallions lose late to Lions in shootout
Wendy Alexander/The Madera Tribune
Madera South’s Lexi Eller looks for the open player during Monday’s loss to Kerman.
For most of the game, it looked like the Madera South Stallions girls basketball team was in control, but the Kerman Lions outscored the Stallions 34-15 for a 52-47 victory on the first day of the Madera Shootout at Madera High School.
The Stallions held a 22-18 lead at the half, but couldn’t hold off the Lions in the end and made too many mistakes Monday evening.
Madera South led 41-40 with three minutes left in the game, but the Lions scored eight of the next 10 points to open a seven-point lead with a minute left for the victory.
Aleecia Rosel led the Stallions with 13 points. Lexi Eller and Ajanae Kinley added 12 points each.
Early, the Stallions took control of the game, jumping out to a 12-6 lead. Kinley took a rebound coast-to-coast for a bucket. Eller found Simone Baker for a layup. Baker then drove in for another layup and Kinley found Eller for a layup and an early six-point lead.
After two Kerman free throws, Lanaye Brewer made a layup. Kerman made another free throw, but Rosel hit a short jumper for a 16-9 first quarter Stallions lead.
Kerman scored the first four points of the quarter to cut the lead to three.
Eller took the lead back to five with a seven-foot jumper. The Lions answered with a 3-point play to get within two.
However, Eller made back-to-back layups off assists from Kinley and Kierra Smith for a 22-16 lead. Unfortunately, the Stallions missed their final four shots of the quarter and turned the ball over three times to keep from extending their lead. Kerman got an offensive putback to cut the Stallions lead to four at the half.
The Lions opened the second half with an eight-point run to open a 26-22 lead. In the early run, Madera South missed four free throws and committed two turnovers.
The Stallions battled back with an Eller 15-foot jumper and a Kinley baseline drive to tie the score at 26.
Kerman hit a short jumper and Rosel hit a 3-pointer. But, Kerman answered with a 3-pointer of its own and added an offensive putback for a 33-29 lead.
An offensive putback and a 12-foot jumper opened a 37-29 Lions lead after a 7-2 run.
Kinley stopped the run with a coast-to-coast layup after a rebound for a 37-31 Kerman lead at the end of the third quarter.
The Stallions opened the fourth quarter with two Kinley free throws. However, Madera South couldn’t take advantage of Kerman’s lack of shooting. The Stallions came down with eight rebounds over the next 2:30, but missed five shots of their own.
Moosey Warren stopped the scoring drought with a pair of free throws to get the Stallions within one.
Kinley answered a Kerman layup with a short jumper of her own. After Kerman hit a 15-foot jumper, Rosel made a layup for a 40-39 Kerman lead.
Warren came down with a rebound and took it the length of the court for a layup and a 41-40 Stallions lead with 2:56 left in the game.
However, the Lions came right back with a 3-pointer and a layup to get a four-point lead. Kinley turned a steal into a short jumper to cut the lead to two. Kerman came right back with two layups and a free throw for a 50-43 lead after a 10-2 run with a minute left in the game. Rosel hit a 12-footer to get the Stallions within five.
However, the Stallions tried to foul and were hit with an intentional foul call and the Lions received two free throws and hit one. After three fouls to get to bonus, Kerman added another free throw with 9.8 seconds left for a 45-52 lead. Rosel made a layup, but that was all the Stallions could get in a five-point loss.
The Stallions continue in the Madera Shootout today against Tranquillity at 1:30 p.m. and play Liberty on Thursday at 2 p.m.
