Shorthanded Coyotes fall

Wendy Alexander/The Madera Tribune

Madera’s Rhynne Mitchell dribbles the ball past a Bullard defender during Friday’s loss to the Knights. Mitchell led the Coyotes with 14 points.

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Injuries shortened the Madera Coyotes girls basketball team to just seven players, but they battled tough in a 56-40 loss to the Bullard-Fresno Knights in Joe Flores Gym.

The Coyotes fell behind by 12 in the first half, but only lost the second half by four points in Friday’s loss. What also hurt the Coyotes was going 11-of-23 (48 percent) from the free throw line.

“Not only did we stay in it, we gave our chance to do more than stay in it, especially early on,” head coach Jason Smith said. “Early on, we were moving the ball, getting to where we want to be and getting to the foul line. We were like 4-for-15 from the foul line in the first half and it was a 12-point game. We talked about finishing. At halftime, we have to control the fouls and turnovers, which we didn’t do a good job of. There were at least eight of them that came after a rebound. We rebounded the ball well. We moved the ball well.”