Stallions advance to own title game
Wendy Alexander/The Madera Tribune
Madera South’s Julian Galvan goes up for a bucket against Sierra Pacific. He scored seven points and had six blocks in the victory Thursday. Against McFarland on Friday, Galvan led the Stallions with 21 points to lead Madera South into the Madera South Classic championship game.
The Madera South Stallions boys basketball team played good enough basketball to win its first three games of the Madera South Classic, but fell to the Fowler Redcats in the championship game.
The Stallions won their pool after a 46-34 victory Thursday over Sierra Pacific-Hanford and picked up a 58-51 win Friday over McFarland.
However, the Stallions were outscored by 12 points in the fourth quarter in a 47-38 loss to the Redcats on Saturday.
Madera South 58, McFarland 51
The Stallions used a fourth quarter boost by Julian Galvan to pull away from the McFarland Cougars to advance to the championship game of the tournament.
Galvan scored 10 of his game-high 21 points in the fourth quarter and led the Stallions on a 10-0 run in the fourth quarter to secure the victory.
“When you have the opportunity to take control of the game, you have to do that,” head coach Jody Sharp said. “You have to take advantage of that. Thank goodness that we did. Thank goodness Julian took it upon himself to step up when he did.”
Jayshawn Thomas added 14 points and seven second half rebounds to help the cause. Jessie Ford scored 11 points, eight in the first half.
“We were flat,” Sharp said. “We played the whole game that way. There was no emotion on the bench or the floor. They went through the motions. You have to play with emotion and enthusiasm no matter who you play or what the score is. You want to get the most out of them.”
The Stallions led 18-9 after the first quarter. Thomas scored six and Ford added five points to lead Madera South.
Thomas pushed the Stallions into a double-digit lead with a steal and layup. Ford picked up a backcourt steal and put down a one-handed dunk or a 23-11 second quarter lead.
After a McFarland jumper, David Vasquez made a pair of free throws. The Cougars came back with a three-point play and an offensive putback to cut the lead down to seven.
Galvan put back a miss to get the lead back to nine, but the Cougars hit a 3-pointer.
Galvan opened the lead to nine with a 3-point play, but the Cougars closed the half with a bucket for a 30-23 Stallions’ lead.
McFarland opened the second half on fire. They scored the first 10 points of the half to take a 33-30 lead.
Thomas found Galvan or a layup to cut the lead to one and Thomas made two free throws for a 34-33 lead.
The Cougars came back with a 3-pointer for a two-point lead, but the Stallions went on a 7-0 run to retake the lead.
Ford started the run with a free throw and Thomas put back a miss with a four-footer. Vasquez converted a 3-point play for a 40-36 lead.
McFarland answered with a layup and a 3-pointer to reclaim the lead, but Galvan gave the Stallions the lead at the end of the third quarter with an offensive putback.
Galvan opened the fourth quarter with a layup and then followed with another short bucket for a 46-41 lead.
The Cougars cut the lead to two with a 3-pointer.
Then, the Stallions took control of the game with a 10-0 run.
Thomas found Galvan for a layup to start the run. Thomas pulled down a rebound and found Vasquez for another bucket. After a Galvan block, Vasquez came down with a rebound and found Ford for another layup. Galvan then drove the lane for a layup and Thomas hit a four-foot floater for a 56-44 lead with about four minutes left in the game.
After a McFarland free throw, Thomas found Galvan for a layup and a 58-45 lead with about two minutes left in the game. McFarland closed out the game with a pair of 3-pointers, but it wasn’t enough to catch up to the Stallions.
Madera South 46, Sierra Pacific 34
The Stallions outscored the Golden Lions 25-13 in the first half and held on for a 12-point victory Thursday.
Thomas led the Stallions with 14 points to go with four steals. Ford added nine points with seven rebounds, six on the offensive glass. Galvan scored seven points to go with six rebounds and six blocked shots.
Jared Guglielmana also came off the bench for six points and eight rebounds, six on the offensive glass.
The victory could have been bigger for the Stallions, but they went just 9-of-20 from the free throw line. However, Sierra Pacific couldn’t help itself, either, by going 11-of-19 from the line.
The Stallions jumped out to a 10-3 first quarter lead. Thomas started the scoring with a steal and layup. After a sierra Pacific free throw, Thomas found Ford for a free throw and Thomas drove to the hoop for another layup and a 6-1 lead.
After a Golden Lions short bucket, Thomas hit a five-foot floater and Galvan found Isaiah Tyler for a layup and a 10-3 Stallions lead.
The Stallions kept the Golden Lions from scoring until a layup to close the quarter.
Madera South opened the second quarter scoring with a pair of free throws from Ford. He added another free throw after a Sierra Pacific bucket. Ford found Guglielmana down low to answer two Sierra Pacific free throws.
After another Sierra Pacific free throw, Madera South scored the next seven points. Four came from Guglielmana layups off assists from Thomas and the other point came on a Vasquez free throw. Galvan drove to the hoop for a layup for a 22-10 lead.
Sierra Pacific stopped the run with a 3-pointer, but off an inbounds pass, Thomas hit a 3-pointer for a 25-13 lead at the half.
Sierra Pacific opened the second half with a bucket, but Ford answered with a pair of free throws. Sierra Pacific made two more free throws, but Thomas answered with a driving layup.
The Golden Lions came back with a free throw and a layup to cut the lead to nine.
Thomas made a layup and picked up a steal and layup. Tyler made back-to-back short jumpers for a 7-0 run and a 36-20 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
Sierra Pacific came out firing in the fourth quarter with a pair of 3-pointers and a layup to cut the lead to six with an 8-0 run. Meanwhile, the Stallions turned the ball over four times and missed their first five shots of the quarter, in addition to a free throw.
Galvan started a five-point run with a 3-point play and Ford finished the run with a layup off passes from Thomas and Daniel Alberto to get the lead to 41-28.
After a Sierra Pacific free throw, Galvan put back a miss and Alberto made a layup to extend the lead to 16.
Sierra Pacific scored three straight points before a Vasquez bucket finished out the Stallions’ scoring. Sierra Pacific closed the scoring with two free throws for the 46-34 final.
