Experience leads to Madera win over Toros
Wendy Alexander/The Madera Tribune
Madera’s J’Sean Gonzales rises up for a jumper of Matilda Torres’ Lawrence Watson during Monday’s victory. Gonzales scored a team-high 17 points in a 50-36 victory.
The Madera Coyotes boys basketball team relied on its experience to put away the Matilda Torres Toros in a 50-36 victory.
Senior J’Sean Gonzales scored a team-high 17 points to go with nine rebounds, five offensive, to lead the Coyotes, who outscored the Toros, 31-19, in the second half for the win.
“Our guys fought through a lot of adversity,” Madera head coach David Lozano said. “They didn’t hit as many easy shots as we would have liked. They fought to the end defensively and stayed together.”
Jazir Alejandre hit three 3-pointers for nine points while Stevie Estrada scored eight points with 10 rebounds for the Coyotes.
“We preach a lot about composure, about staying mentally tough, and that showed in the fourth quarter,” Lozano said.
With one of Torres’ leaders Jose Soriano sitting out the game after receving a pair of technical fouls the game before, Arturo Corona picked up the scoring with a game-high 20 points. However, the rest of the Toros accounted for just 16 points in the loss.
Matilda Torres outrebounded the Coyotes 36-27, but couldn’t take advantage. They also only forced three steals from the Coyotes and just 12 turnovers.
Corona opened the scoring by putting back an offensive rebound. However, Gonzales gave the Coyotes the lead with a 3-pointer.
Corona hit a four-foot jumper for the final Toros’ lead of the evening at 4-3.
Madera came back to score the next 10 points. Estrada put back a miss, then JoJo Pickens got a steal and turned it into a layup. Alejandre hit two 3-pointers for a 13-4 lead.
Corona found Joseph Bass for a layup to cut the lead to seven at the end of the first.
Torres scored the first four points of the second quarter to cut the lead to two with a 12-foot jumper from Ali Al-Khfaji off an offensive rebound and a 10-foot pull-up jumper.
Shovawn Gonzales answered with a layup off a pass from Estrada for a five-point Madera lead. J’Sean Gonzales put back his brother’s miss for a 17-10 lead.
Corona hit a free throw and a driving layup to get the lead back to four, but Estrada hit a pair of free throws for a 19-13 Coyote lead at the half.
Estrada opened the second half by putting back his own miss for an eight-point lead.
Corona found Zach Ellington down low for a bucket, but Gonzales hit a long jumper at the shot clock buzzer for a 23-15 lead.
Pickens hit a baseline 3-pointer to open the lead to 26-15.
Corona came down with a rebound and went coast-to-cost for a layup. He followd that with a short bucket off an Enzo Cosentino steal. An Al-Khfaji rebound led to another Corona bucket. Corona hit a free throw and then made a driving layup to cut the lead to two after a 9-0 run.
Madera came right back with a Pickens short bucket and a Gonzales 3-pointer for a 31-24 lead.
After a Lawrence Watson free throw, the Coyotes scored five straight points with another Gonzales 3-pointer and a Juju Hall jumper for a 10-1 run and a 36-25 lead at the end of the third quarter.
Bass made a layup off a pass from Moses Soto to cut the lead to nine.
However, Madera put the game away with three straight buckets. Gonzales made a layup off an Estrada assist. Then, Gonzales hit a pull-up seven-footer and Alejandre hit a 3-pointer for a 43-27 lead.
Torres got a boost with two Amani Sua free throws and a Cosentino 3-pointer to cut the lead to 11.
Shovawn Gonzales hit a 3-pointer to answer Cosentino’s off passes from J’Sean Gonzales and Estrada.
While Torres missed five straight shots to try to get back into the game, Estrada scored off a Shovawn Gonzales assist for a 48-32 lead.
Corona made two free throws, but Gonzales made two to answer. Corona made a layup, but the Toros couldn’t add any more for a 50-36 loss.
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