Coyotes pull away for win over Pirates in opener
Wendy Alexander/The Madera Tribune
Madera’s Rhynne Mitchell drives to the hoop to score two of her team-high 14 points in Tuesday’s season opening victory over the Reedley Pirates.
After taking a nine-point lead into halftime of the season opener, the Madera Coyotes girls basketball team outscored the Reedley Pirates 18-13 to come away with a 44-30 victory in Joe Flores Gym.
The Coyotes got 14 points from Rhynne Mitchell and 11 from Stephenie Jordan in the victory.
Jasmine Levy scored six with seven rebounds and Andrea Garcia also added six points.
The Coyotes wore down the Pirates in the second half, extending their halftime lead by five.
After Reedley scored the first point of the game, the Coyotes scored the next eight, beginning with a Mitchell free throw. Levy made back-to-back short buckets. Jordan completed a 3-point play for an 8-1 lead.
Reedley scored four points to cut the lead to five, but Mitchell banked in a 3-pointer and Faith Rocha did the same for a 16-5 lead and an 8-0 run into the second quarter.
Mitchell found Garcia for a layup and Reedley answered. After a steal from Aasyria Goins, who had nine rebounds, six offensive despite being the shortest player on the court, Levy hit a 12-foot jumper for a 12-point lead.
Reedley scored the next four points before Jordan put back a miss to keep the lead at 10.
The Pirates came back with four more points, but Garcia hit a 10-foot jumper to get the lead to eight.
After a Reedley free hrow, Nancy Herrera found Garcia for a layup and a 26-17 Madera lead at the half.
The Coyotes scored the first seven points of the second half to open a 16-point lead. Jordan started the run with a 3-pointer, Mitchel made a layup and turned a steal into another layup for a 33-17 lead.
After a Reedley layup, Jordan hit a 3-pointer. Mitchell stopped a two-minute scoring drought from both teams with a steal and layup. Reedley closed the third quarter scoring with a 3-pointer for a 38-22 Madera lead.
Mitchell made a layup and Eliana Jaramillo put back a miss to give the Coyotes a 52-22 lead early in the fourth quarter.
Reedley closed out the game with an 8-2 run (a bucket by Sara Luna for Madera’s last points), but it wasn’t enough for a 44-30 Coyotes’ victory.
