Toros overmatched by Warriors
Wendy Alexander/The Madera Tribune
Torres’ J’Lynn Mitchell gets off a shot during Thursday’s loss to the Fresno Warriors. Mitchell pulled down 10 rebounds in the loss.
The Fresno Warriors used a dominating second and third quarters to run away with a 48-25 victory over the Matilda Torres Toros girls basketball team in North Yosemite League play.
The Toros were outscored 32-13 in the second and third quarters. However, the Toros were competitive in the first and fourth quarters, only getting outscored 16-12 Thursday at Torres.
“I don’t think we’re a 25-point worse team than Fresno,” head coach Jose Villalobos said. “We are banged up and a little tired, but that’s not an excuse. We missed a lot of shots today that could have made a difference.”
In the first quarter, alone, the Toros missed four layups and six free throws. As a team, the Toros were just 3-of-13 from the free throw line.
Karina Sandoval led the Toros with eight points, and had the team’s only two 3-pointers. J’Lynn Mitchell controlled the boards with 10 rebounds.
After Fresno scored the first points, Sandoval hit a 3-pointer. Then, Mitchell got a steal off a Sabrina Cerrillo tip. Cerrillo got the ball back and found Kaylin Perez for a layup and a 5-2 lead.
However, Fresno closed the first quarter with five straight points for a 7-5 lead after the first quarter. Torres missed five shots from the field in the final four-plus minutes of the quarter.
Perez made a layup to tie the game at seven to open the second quarter.
However, Fresno came back to score the next 13 points for a 20-7 lead. In the run, Torres committed five turnovers and missed seven straight shots from the field.
Sheng Lee stopped the run with a layup, but Fresno answered with a layup. Cerrillo made a free throw at the end of the second half for a 22-10 Fresno lead.
Fresno opened the second half with a 12-0 run to open a 24-point lead. Lee stopped the run with a layup. After three Torres turnovers, Fresno added another layup.
Sandoval made a layup to answer, but the Warriors hit a jumper for a 38-14 lead.
Mitchell came down with a rebound and went coast-to-coast for a layup to cut the lead to 23 at the end of the third quarter. Torres committed 10 turnovers in the quarter where they were outscored 17-8.
The Toros showed some life to open the fourth quarter. Cerrillo made a free throw. Sandoval found Layla Webster for a layup and Lee made a free throw to cut the lead down to 18.
However, Fresno made a free throw, hit two 3-pointers and made a layup for a 45-22 lead. In the nine-point run, Torres turned the ball over eight times.
Sandoval closed the scoring with a 3-pointer.
