First quarter lifts Coyotes to CMAC win

The Madera Coyotes girls basketball team shut out the Edison-Fresno Tigers in the first quarter and held off a second half rush for a 48-28 victory in Joe Flores Gym.

The Coyotes jumped out to a 21-point halftime lead before Edison outscored Madera 14-5 in the third quarter to make things interesting. Madera closed out the game with a 16-8 fourth quarter for the 20-point victory Wednesday.

Nine different players scored for the Coyotes, led by Rhynne Mitchell with a game-high 17 points. She also had seven rebounds and three steals.

Mitchell was the only player in double-figures for the Coyotes. Andrea Garcia was the next highest scorer with seven points to go with six rebounds.

Madera pulled down 40 rebound sin the game and had five players with six or more rebounds, led by guard Aasyria Goins and center Jasmine Levy with eight each. Shalynn Garcia also had seven rebounds.

Mitchell opened the scoring with a free throw seven seconds into the game. More than three minutes passed before the next points were scored — two free throws from Garcia with 4:34 left in the first.

It took almost six minutes before the first field goal was made — a 3-pointer from Lilly Smith — to give the Coyotes a 6-0 lead.

Ashley Hernandez found Andrea Garcia for a layup and Hernandez hit a 15-foot jumper off a Levy offensive rebound for a 10-0 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Edison scored its first points 18 seconds into the second quarter, but Mitchell answered with a layup off an assist from Garcia.

Edison scored four of the next five point to cut the lead to seven.

However, Madera kept the Tigers off the scoreboard for the final four minutes of the first half and went on a 14-0 run.

Rosie Perez started the run with a banked-in 10-foot jumper. Kaylee Patlan made two free throws and Mitchell took a steal and turned it into a layup for a 19-6 lead.

Andrea Garcia and Mitchell made layups. Garcia went coast-to-coast with a rebound and a layup. Mitchell found Levy down low for another layup and a 27-6 halftime lead.

Edison scored the first points of the second half with a layup. After Mitchell made a free throw, Edison made a layup. Hernandez answered with a layup off a pass from Patlan. Edison hit a 3-pointer and a layup to cut the lead to 15.

Patlan answered with a free throw, but the Tigers closed out the quarter with a 3-pointer and a layup to cut the lead to 12.

Goins made two free throws and Garcia made a free throw after Edison was hit with a technical foul. The Tigers made a 3-pointer to keep the deficit at 12.

Madera put the game away with a 6-0 run. Mitchell turned a steal into a layup to get the lead back to 14. Smith hit a 12-foot jumper and Mitchell made another layup for a 41-23 lead and cruise to the victory.