Toros battle tough against Patriots
Wendy Alexander/The Madera Tribune
Matilda Torres’ Sabrina Cerrillo drives by a Hoover defender to the bucket. She led the Toros with 10 points in a tough loss Wednesday evening.
The Matilda Torres Toros looked to be outmanned, but got the game close in the fourth quarter before the Hoover-Fresno Patriots recovered for a 54-44 victory at Torres.
The Toros frustrated the Patriots for most of the night. Torres cut a 13-point Hoover lead to one with about three minutes left to go. However, the Patriots closed out the game on a 9-0 run for the victory Wednesday.
Six of Torres’ seven players scored in the game, led by Sabrina Cerrillo with 10. She also had six rebounds with three steals.
Sheng Lee and Kaylin Perez each scored five points.
However, the Achilles Heel of the Toros was their free throw shooting. She made just nine of 22 free throws for 41 percent.
The Toros jumped out to a 5-2 lead early after a 15-foot jumper form Lee and a layup from Simar Thiara.
Hoover tied the game with a 3-pointer and then took a 9-6 lead.
J’Lynn Mitchell found Thiara for a layup, but Hoover answered with a free throw.
The Toros closed the first quarter with a Lee free throw and a Lee 3-pointer for a 12-10 lead.
Hoover took a 17-13 lead, but the Toros got free throws from Cerrillo and Karina Sandoval to cut the lead to two.
Hoover came back with a 3-pointer and a layup to open a 22-15 lead. However, the Toros got a Cerrillo layup off a pass from Mitchell. The Patriots closed the first half with a layup for a 24-17 lead.
The Toros got an offensive putback from Lee and a layup from Perez off a pass from Cerrillo to cut Hoover’s lead to 24-21.
The Patriots scored eight straight points to open a double-digit lead. Perez stopped the run with a 16-foot jumper to cut the lead to 10.
However, Hoover took a 16-point lead after a a trio of short jumpers.
The Toros closed out the quarter with five straight points. After a Layla Webster free throw, Thiara and Sandoval hit long jumpers to cut the lead to 41-30 at the end of the third quarter.
Hoover opened the fourth quarter with a short bucket for a 13-point lead. After a minute, the Toros started to cut into the lead with an 11-0 run.
Cerrillo started the run with a steal and layup. After a Mitchell steal, Cerrillo made another layup.
Perez hit a 3-pointer and then picked up a steal and fed to Cerrillo for another layup. Cerrillo then found Mitchell for a 15-foot jumper to cut the lead to two.
After a Hoover layup, Sandoval drained a 3-pointer to cut the lead to 45-44.
However, the Toros committed four turnovers and missed two shots in the final three minutes while the Patriots scored nine straight points for a 54-44 victory.
