Stallions girls basketball falls late in Div. V playoffs

The Madera South Stallions girls basketball got in a tight battle with the Washington Union-Easton Panthers in the first round of the Central Section Div. V Playoffs.

The Stallions took a lead with 1:04 left in the game, but the Panthers tied it up with a free throw. However, the Stallions had two chances with 27.6 seconds left, but turned the ball over and missed a long-range 3-pointer to send the game into overtime Wednesday evening at Madera South.

Unfortunately, the Panthers outscored the Stallions 9-1 in the overtime while Madera South went cold from the field, going 0-for-10, in a 60-52 loss.

“We had a lot of missed shots and gave up the ball too fast,” head coach Johnny Sharp. “Our guards didn’t want the ball tonight. I thought we played good enough to come back. A mistake here and there cost us. Having a young team like this, they don’t know. This experience will be good for them next year.”

Jocelyn Barrera and Brianna Lorta led the Stallions with 15 points each. Barrera also pulled down a season-high 21 rebounds, including 15 on the offensive boards, but was inefficient in the paint. Alannah Ward added 14 points while the rest of the Stallions combined for nine.

Madera South committed 27 turnovers in the game. They also had 45 rebounds with 28 coming on the offense glass. However, they only had three offensive pubacks and scored 17 second-chance points.

After the Panthers opened the game with a free throw, Ward hit a 3-pointer, sank a 10-foot jumper and found Mayra Ceballos for a layup and a 7-3 lead. The Panthers scored five to take the lead, but Barrera scored from the post and found Jalissa Kirkpatrick for a layup and an 11-8 lead.

The Panthers made a layup before the end of the first and added two more buckets for a 14-11 lead.

Despite a Ceballos free throw, the Panthers extended their run to 11-1 for a seven-point lead.

Lorta hit a 3-pointer to get the lead down to four, but the Panthers made a pair of free throws.

Lorta hit a 12-foot runner and Barrera made a pair of free throws. After the Panthers made a pair of free throws, Lorta beat the first half buzzer with a 15-foot jumper for a 23-21 Panthers’ lead.

Barrera put back her own miss to tie the score. Kirkpatrick made a free throw for the lead. However, the Panthers scored the next eight points for a 31-24 lead.

Ward stopped the run with a 3-pointer to cut the lead to four. After a Panthers’ driving layup, Barrera got a steal and turned it into a layup. After a Panther’s layup, Lorta hit a 3-pointer to cut the lead to three.

The Panthers responded with five straight points before a Ward layup. The Panthers got another bucket before Barrera beat the third quarter buzzer with an 12-foot jumper on an offensive rebound to get the Stallions within six.

Mayrlin Vasquez hit a 3-pointer to open the fourth quarter scoring for the Stallions, but the Panthers scored eight straight points to open a 50-39 lead.

The Stallions started to chip away at the lead. Barrera started a 12-0 run with a driving layup. Lorta hit a rainbow 3-pointer and followed with a 15-foot jumper. Ward’s 3-pointer cut the lead to one with less than two minutes left.

Barrera put back her own miss for a 51-50 Stallions’ lead with about a minute left. The Stallions got the ball back after a jump ball, but Ward missed the front end of a one-and-one. The Panthers got to the foul line, but made one free throw with 27.6 seconds left to tie the game. The Stallions got possession, but were called for an offensive foul.

Madera South forced the Panthers to throw the ball out of bounds, but the Stallions couldn’t work to get a good shot and Ward missed a long 3-point attempt to head to overtime.

In the overtime, Madera South missed all 10 of its shots, and four 3-pointers. including missing five shots on one possession. Meanwhile, the Panthers scored the first six points of the overtime and the final three for the win.