Madera boys and girls water polo in semifinals
Wendy Alexander/The Madera Tribune
Madera goalie Ben Prim looks for a pass. He recorded five first half saves during Friday’s 9-6 quarterfinal victory over Tulare Western.
Big second half sends Madera boys to semis
After Tulare Western scored a goal to tie the Div. III semifinal match at three entering halftime, the Madera Coyotes boys water polo team outscored the Mustang s 6-3 in the second half for a 9-6 victory at McAlister Pool.
Damian Bispham scored a pair of second half goals to help lead the top-seeded Coyotes past No. 8 Tulare Western.
Madera’s defense shined in the first half. Goalie Ben Prim made block after block to keep the Coyotes in the match. He had five saves in the first half.
Tulare Western scored the first goal of the game inside the first two minutes.
Madera Coyotes only had one real good chance in the period when Bobby Criado came up with a steal, but it was taken away by two defenders in front of the Mustangs’ goal.
Prim made a pair of blocks in the final two minutes to stay within one goal.
Madera finally got on the scoreboard when Mathew Carrera got the ball on the right and lobbed a shot over the goalie for the goal with 5:12 left in the second period.
Tulare Western came back a minute later with a high shot over Prim for a 2-1 lead.
Madera tied the match at two when Carrera lobbed a pass from the right to the middle and Criado touched the ball in with 2:42 left in the first half.
Madera took the lead with 30 seconds left in the first half when Bispham sent a ball to Michael Perez on the right. Perez sent a skip shot inside the far post for the lead.
However, the Mustangs scored 16 seconds later with a long shot right after a foul to send the game tied at three into the half.
Madera overtook the Mustangs in the second half to head into the semifinals on Wednesday against No. 5 Pioneer Valley at 5 p.m. in McAlister Pool.
Coyotes upset fourth seed
The Madera Coyotes girls water polo team, behind Marisol Alvarez, advanced to the semifinals of the Div. III Central Section playoffs after an 8-7 victory Thursday in Bakersfield.
The fifth-seeded Coyotes held onto a second half lead for an 8-7 victory over fourth-seeded Centennial-Bakersfield at the Kern County Aquatics Complex on Thursday.
The win will give the Coyotes a home game as No. 16 seed San Joaquin Memorial, a County/Metro Athletic Conference foe, upset the top seed and the No. 8 seed last week.
Alvarez scored seven of the Coyotes’ seven goals in the win. Alanah Resendez scored the other goal. Goalie Leah Resendez recorded 10 blocks in goal.
The two teams were tied at two at the end of the first period. Both teams scored a goal in the second period for a 3-3 tie at the half.
Madera outscored Centennial 4-2 in the third period for a 7-5 lead. The Coyotes held onto the lead for the win.
