Coyote Basketball earns playoff home match, hosting LA Trade Tech

Eduardo Miranda

The Daily Independent

Date: Wednesday, February 28

Time: 7:00pm tip off

Cost: $12 Adult, $8 Child/Senior/Student

The Cerro Coso Coyotes men basketball team ended the season with a 22-6 overall record and a 12-4 Inland Empire Athletic Conference record for third place and earn a playoff berth. On Sunday, the California Community College Athletics Association released the 2024 SoCal bracket with the Coyotes earning the 11th seed and a home match on Wednesday at 7 p.m., against 22nd see Los Angeles Trade Tech.

"They are good. They finished I believe fourth in their league. They are athletic, they are not really big but they have some scrappy guards who can go and make some plays," said Head Coach Chris Dugan on his team's opening round opponent. "They are going to zone us quite a bit and I think we will be fine. It's more about us coming ready to play, be excited, play the right way, slide our feet and not foul, and rebound. We will be in a good spot."

The Los Angeles Trade Tech Beavers finished the season with a 16-12 overall record and 5-5 in the South Coast-North Athletic Conference for fourth place. The Beavers are going into the playoff on a two-game losing streak.

Coach Dugan and his team are excited to prepare for the first-round home game.

"It is definitely exciting to have one more week with the guys," he said. "I was just talking about how I like this group, let's just enjoy one more week and keep winning to keep going and going. Excited, fired up to get another home game. I know the guys are excited to get a chance to make a run in the playoffs and I like our side of the bracket that we have."

The winner of the match faces sixth seed Citrus in the next round on Saturday.