Tyler Takeda/The Madera Tribune The Liberty Hawks celebrate at center court after defeating the Yosemite Badgers, 28-26, to win the first Liberty Hawks Holiday Classic on December 20 at Liberty.  The Liberty Hawks girls basketball team were right where they wanted to be — in the championship game of its own tournament in the first year. However, they didn’t expect to be scoreless through the first quarter.  The Hawks just wanted to make things more interesting for their fans.

For The Madera Tribune Former Madera South and Fresno State baseball standout prepares for a workout as a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates organization this summer. Gray is getting himself ready for his first full professional baseball season, which will begin in February. Madera South standout and Fresno State Bulldog Murf Gray heard his name announced in the third round of last July’s Major League Baseball First-Year Player draft by the Pittsburgh Pirates.  Since then, it h

Tyler Takeda/The Madera Tribune Madera freshman Janyah Spotwood shoots over a Sanger defender during the first half of Thursday’s road loss to the Apaches. Spotwood led the Coyotes with 15 points and 10 rebounds.  SANGER — The Madera Coyotes girls basketball team committed 25 turnovers in the first half that led to a 27-6 Sanger Apache halftime lead in a non-conference loss.  The Coyotes did better in the second half, but still turned the ball over 40 times in a 63-35 loss Th

Wendy Alexander/The Madera Tribune Madera South’s Jeanette Duran connects on a mid-range jumper during the third quarter of Wednesday’s loss to the Mendota Aztecs. The early returns looked promising for the Madera South Stallions girls basketball team in its non-conference match-up against the Mendota Aztecs.  However, after taking an 8-3 lead, the Stallions went cold and the Aztecs got hot. Mendota scored 20 straight points, including holding the Stallions scoreless in the s

Tyler Takeda/The Madera Tribune The Matilda Torres Toros girls basketball team celebrates at center court after a 46-24 victory over the Mendota Aztecs to win the fifth annual Cen-Cal Holiday Invitational at Torres.  Mitchell scores 1,000th point With the help of J’Lynn Mitchell’s 22 points, the Matilda Torres Toros girls basketball team easily dispatched the Mendota Aztecs to win their own Cen-Cal Holiday Invitational. In what is becoming one of the best rivalries among Mati

For The Madera Tribune Madera Coyote wrestlers show off some of the many toys they received during a toy drive during their dual meet with Lemoore on Thursday.  The Madera Coyote wrestling team’s first toy drive was a success, as was its match-up with the Lemoore Tigers in Joe Flores Gym.  The Coyotes brought in more than 100 toys for Madera Unified children and defeated the Tigers 59-10 in the dual meet Thursday.  In fact, the Coyotes won their first 11 matches of the evenin

The Madera Coyotes girls basketball team advanced to the fifth place game of the Cen-Cal Holiday Invitational at Matilda Torres, but couldn’t match Yosemite’s height in a 43-34 loss.  The Coyotes battled, but couldn’t come back from a 16-8 first quarter in Saturday’s loss.  Janyah Spotwood recorded a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds with seven on the offensive glass. She also led the team with four steals. Rylie Fernandez added eight points, but they were the only

The Madera South Stallions girls basketball team closed out the Cen-Cal Holiday Invitational with a 47-28 victory over the Washington Union Panthers.  The Stallions had four players score nine or more points, led by Crystalina Buitron with 16. Chloe Robinson scored 10 points with nine from Kawaii Perkins and Jeanette Duran.  Madera South jumped out to a 24-17 lead at the end of the first half with Perkins and Buitron scoring nine points each.