Coyotes come back for win over Bullard

Wendy Alexander/The Madera Tribune

Madera’s Rhynne Mitchell drives to the lane to score two of her game-high 28 points in Monday’s comeback win over Bullard.

The Madera Coyotes girls basketball team found itself in a deep hole in a rare Monday game against the Bullard-Fresno Knights in Joe Flores Gym.

The Coyotes outscored the 23-6 in the fourth quarter to erase a 15-point deficit heading into the quarter.

“We were down 15 going into the fourth quarter,” head coach Jason Smith said. “The girls thought I was full of it. The girls came to the bench and I told them, ‘It’s only 15 points.’ Rhynne looked at Lilly and said, oh, yeah, only 15. I told them if we start making shots, we’ll be in this thing. The only thing we weren’t doing all night long was making shots.”

Rhynne Mitchell led all scorers with 28 points, including 15 in the fourth quarter.

The Coyotes found themselves trailing

16-11 at the end of the first quarter and 33-21 at the half after a 9-0 Bullard run.

The Knights extended the run to 14-1 for a 17-point lead. The Coyotes cut the lead to 13 after a Mitchell 3-pointer, but the Knights scored at the end of the quarter for a 44-29 lead.

Levy started the fourth quarter onslaught with an offensive putback. After a Bullard 3-pointer, Aasyria Goins found Levy for a bucket to begin a 10-0 run.

Mitchell made a layup off a steal and added another layup. Free throws from Mitchell and Mayeli Hill cut the lead to 47-41 with four minutes left.

After a Bullard free throw, Goins found Levy for a layup and Mitchell hit another 3-pointer for a 15-1 run to cut the lead to 48-46.

With 1:20 left, Mitchell drove to the basket and threw up a shot while falling. The ball found the basket to tie the score.

After a Goins rebound, Mitchell banked in a 3-pointer for a 51-48 lead. Knights sank a pair of free throw with 24.1 seconds left to cut the lead to one.

Madera turned the ball over, but Bullard missed a shot in the key and Mitchell came down with the rebound. She was fouled and made a free throw for a 52-50 lead.

Bullard had one last chance, but Levy got a hand on a driving shot for the block as time ran out for the win.

“In the fourth quarter, we made shots,” Coach Smith said “Everything fell into place. Bullard went cold. They stopped making buckets and we started making buckets.”