Torres shoots way to season opening win

Wendy Alexander/The Madera Tribune

Matilda Torres’ Nate Gray puts back an offensive rebound during Thursday’s victory over Livingston. Gray finished with a double-double in his first game of the season (14 points, 13 rebounds).

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The Matilda Torres Toros closed out the game by outscoring the Livingston Wolves 26-19 in the fourth quarter for a 68-65 victory in the season opener Thursday. 

Champ Pichardo put back a miss with 1:12 to go to tie the game at 65. Then, David Casas made two free throws with 38.5 seconds for the lead. Henry Pacheco made one-of-two free throws with six seconds left. Livingston missed on a wild 3-pointer at the buzzer for the Toros’ first victory of the season. 

The Toros fell behind in the first half, and shot 31 percent from the field, including 4-of-14 (29 percent) from 3-point range. However, the Toros scored 44 second half points, shot 56 percent (14-of-25) from the field, and went 7-of-13 from 3-point range (54 percent) to pick up the win.