Late third-quarter run fuels Coyotes' basketball win over Wolverines

Eduardo Miranda

The Daily Independent

In a battle between the Inland Empire Athletic Conference's third seed, Cerro Coso, and sixth seed, San Bernardino Valley, the Coyotes had a few scoring droughts in the first half but were able to keep control through their defense. The home team had a dominant second half in securing an 84-51 win over the Wolverines.

"Good win. Gritty win, found a way to close it out it in the second half with high effort and high energy. Just a good team win. I think everybody found a way to help out by the end of it," said head coach Keshawn Johnson.

The Coyotes had three players score in double digits, led by Savanah Rowland with 31 points. Shaniyah McCarthy had 23 points and Lia Sims added 12 points. Shayla Kantarevic and Alexis Staton both had eight points each.

The Coyotes began the game on a 9-0 run with points scored by Rowland, McCarthy, Kantarevic, and Staton. The visitors scored the next four points, and the Coyotes responded with a 7-0 run with McCarthy finishing an and-one and Rowland and Kantarevic scoring layups. Cerro Coso led 16-4 with 5:14 left in the first quarter, but did not score again until Rowland made a layup with 1:23 left on the clock. Cerro Coso finished the first quarter leading 18-9.

The second quarter had Cerro Coso score the first points with a jumper by McCarthy for a 20-9 lead. But the Coyotes' offense struggled for the next five minutes, including missed free throws by Kantarevic and Staton. During the drought, the Wolverines cut the Coyotes' lead to five, 20-15. The drought ended with Rowland scoring both her free throws and then scored a layup to put the Coyotes up by nine. McCarthy scored a layup, Staton hit a three-pointer, and Rowland scored a layup that beat the buzzer to go into the half with a 31-23 lead.

During the shooting drought, the Coyotes relied on their defense and made the Wolverines work for every point. They continued to jump passing lanes and tip passes as well as keep the visitors off the glass.

Johnson said on the defense during the drought, "a lot of our focus this week was learning how to defend. I was sort of hoping that we won the game on the defensive side. So, when shots weren't falling the mentality was supposed to be to revert back to our defense. We found a way to keep getting stops and not let them take the lead."

The third quarter began with the Coyotes going on a 10-5 run to take a 41-32 lead. During the run, the Coyotes had points from Iliana Nye, McCarthy, and Rowland, but a technical called against Cerro Coso let the visitors cut the lead to four points, 41-37. After a three-pointer by the Wolverines, Rowland scored a layup to extend the lead to 45-40.

San Bernardino Valley hit a layup to cut the lead to three, 45-42. That started a 15-0 run to end the third and start the fourth for the Coyotes. Sims hit a jump shot, Rowland scored a floater in the lane and hit a jump shot with the and-one free throw. Sims scored a layup and hit a jump shot and scored the and-one free throw for a 57-42 lead to end the third.

The fourth began with the Coyotes finishing their run with Rowland scoring a layup from a steal and Sims scoring a layup for a 61-42 lead. The Wolverines scored on a layup and the Coyotes scored the next six points from Staton and McCarthy scoring twice forcing a timeout. San Bernardino Valley scored coming out of the timeout, and the Coyotes went on an 8-0 run with two threes from Rowland and Kantarevic forcing another Wolverine timeout.

After Cerro Coso built a 75-47 lead, the Wolverines had a 4-0 run until Rowland nailed a floater to start a 7-0 Coyotes run. McCarthy scored a layup, Rowland made both her free throws, and Sims made one of two from the free-throw line. San Bernardino Valley scored its final point and the Coyotes responded with Sims making an open layup on an in-bound pass.

The Coyotes continue in third place in Inland Empire Athletic Conference and in the final playoff spot, trailing only undefeated Mt. San Jacinto and Victor Valley. Cerro Coso continues conference play with a two-game road trip to Barstow on Saturday and Palo Verde on Monday. The Coyotes return home on Wednesday hosting Victor Valley at 5 p.m.

Johnson said on what he wants to see from his team in the coming games, "continue to treat every game like it's the most important one of the season. I think it's the challenge right now, and we will continue to battle for that. Regardless of who the opponent is, we have to maintain our standard and play to a standard."