Stallions open tourney with wins
Wendy Alexander/The Madera Tribune Madera South’s Elijah Ford brings down a rebound during Wednesday’s rout of Minarets in the Madera South Classic.
The Madera South Stallions boys basketball team opened its own tournament with a pair of routs.
The Stallions opened the Madera South Classic with a 76-43 victory Wednesday over Hoover-Fresno and then followed that with a 77-28 rout of Minarets a few hours later.
“The Hoover game was one of those things where we played well,” head coach Jody Sharp said. “We had a good second quarter so that made things easy for us.
“It’s kind of the way the scheduling went,” Sharp said. “There were eight teams in the tournament that had opponents in their same league so I tried to make it work for everyone involved. You don’t want to have those routs. I don’t want to run up the score on somebody. You have to be ethically right. It teaches the kids about the real value of what the game stands for and how to take care of themselves on the court. I was just talking to them about their antics at the end. It’s about seeing the bigger picture. We could easily be at the other end. I want them to understand there is a bigger picture.”
The Stallions took over the game against Hoover in the second quarter, outscoring the Patriots 23-8. In the second and third quarters, Madera South outscored Hoover 41-11 to put the game away.
Hakeem Primes led three players in double figures with 16 points. David Thomas scored 12 and Elijah Ford scored 14.
Against the Mustangs, the Stallions used every player on the bench. Sharp utilized the five-in, five-out strategy throughout the first half. The result was 12 players scored for the Stallions with just three players in double figures and no one scoring more than 11 points.
“We started subbing five in, five out about four games ago,” Sharp said. “I’m trying to get more competition. I want the kids to get more engaged. I’m playing with it now to see if that’s something I want to do. It’s still a work in progress trying to finding the right combination.”
Ralph White led the Stallions with 11 points. Junior Segura scored 10 points and Ford scored 10 points with eight rebounds.
“My concern was the drop off defensively,” Sharp said. “Our guys don’t have a problem wanting to go. We have to be able to do things at the other end to get the opportunity to be able to go. We’re trying to make them understand there’s a value on the defensive end they have to accept and take pride in. We’re just not there, yet.”
The Stallions scored the first 22 points of the game and 24 of the first 25 points heading into the second quarter.
Andre Johnson started the scoring with a layup. Amire Green followed with a steal and two-handed dunk. Primes scored on a driving layup and Segura hit a step-back 3-pointer.
After a Ford free throw, Victor Daza hit a 3-pointer, Nate Adams scored on a layup, Jayshawn Thomas scored on a driving layup and Xavier Garcia hit a 3-pointer for a 20-0 lead.
White hit a step-back 12-footer. Minarets stopped the shutout with a free throw with 1:59 left in the first quarter.
Jonathan Garcia scored off an assist from White for a 24-1 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Minarets scored five straight points, but the Stallions came back with a layup from David Thomas, off an assist from Segura. Adams hit a 3-pointer, Jayshawn Thomas made a free throw for a 30-6 lead.
Minarets reached double figures after a layup and a 3-pointer. The Stallions came back with a long jumper from Ford and a White free throw. White tipped in a Johnson missed 3-pointer. Johnson came back with two free throws and Primes found Ford for a layup.
Ford answered a Minarets free throw with one of his own for a 40-13 lead heading into the half.
The Stallions opened the third quarter on a 7-0 run to increase their lead to 33. Primes opened the scoring with a free throw and dribbled through the defense for a layup. Green scored on a layup and Johnson made a free throw.
Minarets made two technical foul free throws, but the Stallions scored the next 10 points.
Green started the run with an offensive putback. He followed with a layup. Adams made a pair of free throws and Daza banked in a 12-footer. Daza pulled down a rebound and fired a long pass to Segura for a layup and a 56-15 lead.
After Minarets hit a short jumper, the Stallions closed the quarter scoring 10 of the next 12 points.
Ford started the run with a layup. Ford put back his own miss. Jayshawn Thomas picked up a steal and fed Segure for a layup. Then, Segura found Daza for another layup. After a minarets bucket, White closed the third quarter scoring with a 15-footer for a 66-19 lead.
With the 47-point lead, the running clock was invoked, but the Stallions scored on a layup from White, a 3-pointer and free throw from Garcia and a long jumper from White for a 74-22 lead. Segura closed out Madera South’s scoring with a 3-pointer for the 77-28 final.
