Coyotes run over by Panthers
Wendy Alexander/The Madera Tribune Madera’s Alyssa Fernandez drives to the lane during a County/Metro Athletic Conference loss to the San Joaquin Memorial Panthers on Friday.
The San Joaquin Memorial-Fresno Panthers girls basketball team put away the Madera Coyotes early with a 22-0 run for a dominating victory.
Ten different Panthers scored in the game, including a game-high 23 points by Macy James, who outscored the Coyotes by herself in a 66-21 victory in Joe Flores Gym on Friday.
For the second game in a row, the Coyotes couldn’t keep a hold of the ball. They committed 30 turnovers through the first three quarters before a running fourth quarter clock. In a Jan. 17 loss to the Bullard-Fresno Knights, the Coyotes also committed 30 turnovers.
While the Panthers had 10 players score points, Madera had seven players, but no one scored more than the five points by Madeleine McNeil.
The Coyotes shot just 29 percent from the field and took just 28 shots in the game. They were even slightly worse at the free throw line, going 5-of-18 (28 percent).
The Panthers took an early lead, but the Coyotes came back to cut the lead to one after a Sofia Perez offensive putback. After a James layup, Grace Castellanos found Lexi Carmona for a layup to cut the lead to 8-7.
From there, the Panthers closed the first quarter with an 8-0 run and then scored the first 14 points of the second quarter to jump out to a 30-7 lead.
Madera committed nine turnovers in the run and took just two shots, both misses.
Janessa Fernandes made a free throw, but the Panthers hit a 3-pointer for a 33-8 lead. McNeil scored down low, but the Panthers answered with a seven-foot jumper.
Camile DeAnda found Alyssa Fernandez for a layup and Fernandes made a pair of free throws for a short run. But, the Panthers closed the half with two layups while Madera committed five turnovers without taking a shot. Madera took just four shots in the quarter.
Perez put back a miss to answer Memorial’s offensive putback to open the second half. The Panthers then scored the next 12 points to jump out to a 53-16 lead.
In the run, Madera committed 11 turnovers and took just two shots.
A Panthers’ 3-pointer invoked the fourth quarter running clock with a 58-17 lead. Madera got buckets from McNeil and BriAnn Houghton, but the Panthers closed out the game with six points for a 45-point victory.
