Coyotes fall, again, to Clovis East
Wendy Alexander/The Madera Tribune Madera’s Camile DeAnda drives the lane against Clovis East. She scored seven points in the loss.
The Madera Coyotes girls basketball team faced the Clovis East Timberwolves for the second time in three days and suffered a worst fate in a non-conference game in Joe Flores Gym.
After a 38-34 loss to the Timberwolves on Jan. 6, the Coyotes fell victim to a 13-0 second half run in a 49-33 loss Monday.
“The run isn’t a run if we make layups,” head coach Jason Smith said. “We counted it up between the coaches and we were like 4-of-21 from inside the paint in the second half. We were getting shots two and three feet away. We have to score. That run isn’t a run if we can make those shots. We missed a few putbacks, as well.”
Clovis East had three players in double figures, while the Coyotes had just one — Janessa Fernandes, who scored 10 points.
“We got the shots we wanted,” Smith said. “I can’t put the ball in the hoop for them.”
Lexi Carmona added eight points and Camile DeAnda scored seven.
However, once the Timberwolves started rolling, the Coyotes couldn’t do anything to counter the attack.
“I have three rules: Be coachable, outhustle the competition all the time and have a good attitude,” Smith said. “As a group, we broke all three of those rules tonight. Once we started missing those shots, our attitude went down, we start getting outshustled. If we don’t violate those three rules, it’s a different game.”
The Coyotes fell behind early in the game, but two free throws from Alyssa Fernandez and a driving bucket by Carmona tied the score at six. After a Clovis East bucket, Carmona made another driving bucket, but the Timberwolves added a free throw for a 9-8 lead at the end of the first quarter.
After Clovis East scored the first points of the second quarter, Fernandes made a bucket and Madeleine McNeil made a free throw to tie the game at 11.
The Timberwolves opened a 15-12 lead before the Coyotes went on an 8-0 run.
Perez started the run with a layup off an assist by BriAnn Houghton. Carmona made two free throws and Fernandes made two layups, the second with a spin move, for a 20-15 lead.
However, a pair of turnovers led to four Clovis East points for a 20-19 lead at the half, the same score in their previous game at halftime.
Carmona opened the second half with a jumper, but the Coyotes wouldn’t score again until there was about a minute left in the quarter.
In the meantime, Clovis East went on a 13-0 run for a 32-22 lead. Fernandes stopped the run with a driving layup. Clovis East then hit a 10-foot jumper and a layup.
DeAnda scored the final points of the quarter with a 3-pointer just inside half court at the buzzer for a 36-27 Clovis East lead. In the quarter, the Coyotes went 3-of-18 from the field.
The Timberwolves scored the first six points of the fourth quarter for a 15-point lead.
Fernandes made another driving layup. Alyssa Fernandez got a steal and turned it into a layup. DeAnda scored on a layup for a 6-0 run to cut the lead to nine with about three minutes left in the game.
From then, the Coyotes missed five shots, two free throws and committed three turnovers while Clovis East closed the game with seven straight points for a 49-33 victory.
