Coyotes pull upset, into semifinals

Wendy Alexander/The Madera Tribune

Madera’s Rhynne Mitchell scored a team-high 21 points to lead the Coyotes to an upset victory in the Div. IV Central Section quarterfinals. Madera hosts Redwood-Visalia tonight in the semifinals.

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The Madera Coyotes girls basketball team pulled off its second straight upset of the Div. IV Central Section playoffs to advance to the semifinals Wednesday.

The 14th seeded Coyotes used a 24-point second quarter and sank 10 3-pointers to pull off the upset Friday night against 11th seeded Mission Oak-Tulare.

With the win, the Coyotes will next host the 15th seeded Redwood-Visalia Rangers tonight in Joe Flores Gym for the semifinals at 6 p.m.

Rhynne Mitchell led the Coyotes with 21 points. Lilly Smith, Erika Perez and Aasyria Goins combined for nine 3-pointers and 30 points. Smith scored 12 with Perez scoring 10. Goins added eight.

Although the Coyotes hit 10 3-pointers, they fell victim to the 3-pointer early in the game.

The Hawks hit four in the first quarter to jump out to a 17-10 lead. Mitchell scored three points in the first quarter with a banked 15-footer and a free throw. Jasmine Levy put back a miss and String hit a turnaround 15-foot jumper. Perez hit a 3-pointer at the end of the quarter to cut the lead to seven.

The Coyotes scored the first 10 points of the second quarter to take a 20-17 lead. Mitchell made a layup, String scored down low and Mitchell and Goins hit 3-pointers.

Mission Oak battled back with seven straight points for a four-point lead.

However, the Coyotes came right back with 3-pointers from Goins and Perez and three free throws from Mitchell. After a Mission Oak 3-pointer, Smith hit her first -pointer of the game for a five-point lead.

String answered two Mission Oak free throws with a 15-foot jumper for a 34-29 halftime lead.

Mitchell opened the third quarter with a layup and Smith hit a 3-pointer for a 39-29 lead.

After a Mission Oak 3-pointer, Mitchell scored on a second chance opportunity and Smith banked in a 3-pointer to get the lead to eight. Mission Oak came back with a 3-pointer and a bucket, but Mitchell made a layup for a nine-point lead.

Mission Oak scored the final four points of the third quarter and the first six points of the fourth for a 10-0 run to take a 47-46 lead.

Madera came right back with a pair of free throws from Mitchell and one from Perez. Smith hit a 3-pointer for a 6-0 run and a 52-47 lead.

However, Mission Oak didn’t go away and scored the next six points to take a 53-52 lead with 1:39 left in the game. The Hawks added a free throw after a Coyotes’ turnover for a two-point lead.

Perez hit a long baseline jumper to tie the score at 54. Mission Oak missed a driving bucket and Levy came down with the rebound. However, the Coyotes turned the ball over with 36.6 seconds left.

Mitchell stripped Mission Oak of the ball and made a layup with 18.8 seconds left for a two-point lead. Mission Oak drew a foul and went to the free throw line. The Hawks made one-of-two free throws with 9.1 seconds left.

The Hawks fouled quickly and Goins went to the free throw line. She made both free throws for a 58-55 lead with 8.3 seconds left.

The Hawks pushed the ball up the court, but the Coyotes hit the ball out of bounds with two seconds left. The Hawks had one chance and missed a wild shot at the buzzer for a 58-55 Coyotes’ victory.

Other Playoff games

The Liberty Hawks pulled off another upset to advance in the Div. V boys basketball playoffs, this time dispatching the Highland-Bakersfield Scots in the quarterfinals.

The Scots were the second seed and the 10th-seeded Hawks used a 19-2 second quarter for a 69-53 win Thursday evening in Bakersfield.

Liberty, upset No. 7 seed Fresno Christian in the first round and then advanced to the semifinals with the win over Highland in an upset-filled bracket.

The Hawks will next face No. 6 seed Central Valley Christian-Visalia, who was a 57-39 winner over No. 3 seed Lindsay in the quarterfinals. In the other side of the bracket, No. 13 Kennedy-Delano upset No. 5 Golden West-Visalia to advance to the semifinals.

Carson Stephens led the Hawks with 21 points, but also got a 20-point effort from Max Vestal. They were two of four Hawks to hit double figures. Dante Ciritella added 14 while Michael Rivera scored 10 points.

Liberty took control of the game in the middle two quarters outscoring Highland 40-12 to take a 50-28 lead into the fourth quarter for the win.

The Madera South girls soccer team also pulled the upset, this time over the top seed, Exeter, on Thursday evening.

The teams played the entire second half scoreless and the eight-seeded Stallions got a free kick goal from Aliah Avila in the second half of overtime to send the Stallions to the semifinals Tuesday against No. 5 Bakersfield Christian.

Hazel Iniguez scored the first goal of the game midway through the first half.

“Brianna Maciel took it down the right and crossed it through,” head coach Ramon Delgadillo said. “It came to the back and Hazel knocked it to the far post.”

Exeter tied the score with a goal with less than two minutes left in the first half.

After a scoreless second half and first half of overtime, Madera South earned a free kick from about 25 yards out with about three minutes left in the second half of overtime.

Avila stepped up and hit a rocket that went around the Exeter wall and into the back of the net for the game-winning goal.

“I put 10 players in the back and left one striker on top,” Delgadillo said.