Experienced Coyotes too much for rivals
Wendy Alexander/The Madera Tribune
Madera’s Bailey Hansen gets ready to shoot with Madera South’s Juleona Ruiz bearing down on her. Hansen led the Coyotes with five goals in a 13-7 victory Tuesday.
The Madera South girls water polo came in with a young roster and showed a glimpse of its potential, but it wasn’t enough to take down rival Madera.
The more-experienced Coyotes got off to a quick start and never looked back, winning it 13-7 at Madera South on Tuesday.
“I’m actually really proud of how my team did,” Madera South head coach Miranda Perez said. “I have six freshmen on my team. We’re a very young team compared to a team full of seniors. They have all been playing since they were in middle school, so I have a very young team and we did very well.”
Despite the win, Madera High coach Erik Baymiller wasn’t satisfied with it.
“We didn’t do as well as I wanted us to,” Baymiller said. “It was just a really weird defense. They opted not to play defense, so it took a while to adjust.”
Baymiller wanted to see more ball movement to break down the defense.
“We just let them sit there and do their thing and it made for a lot more frustrating of a game than it should have been,” Baymiller said.
Madera had four players score goals with Bailey Hansen leading the team with five. Emily Lopez-Ibarra scored four while Lola Gill added three more.
The Coyotes took a 6-2 lead after the first quarter and shut out the Stallions in the second quarter, taking an 8-2 lead to halftime.
Gill scored the first goal of the third quarter to give the Coyotes a 9-2 lead. Juleona Ruiz scored two goals in the third quarter to help Madera South cut the lead to three points.
Madera South goalie Jatzelle Salazar also did her part to help keep the Stallions in the game.
Salazar blocked three shots in the final minute of the third quarter as the Coyotes continued to attack.
The senior then made two blocks early in the fourth quarter with the Coyotes trying to build on a four-point lead.
“Jatzelle is absolutely amazing. I have been coaching her since she was in the eighth grade,” Perez said. “She has come a long way. She does a really good job of leading the team and helping out our young players to succeed.”
Still, it was only a matter of time before the Coyotes pulled away from the Stallions.
Hansen made it a 12-5 lead for the Coyotes, then nearly converted another shot which hit the post.
Obregon added another goal in the late stages to clinch the win for the Coyotes.
Baymiller said he is happy with how the season has gone so far, but the game against against Madera South was a step back.
“We have been playing a lot of Div. I schools and we’ve been doing well,” Baymiller said. “We’re looking strong for league.”
