Coyotes’ last-second shot falls short in thriller against Wolverines

Eduardo Miranda

The Daily Independent

The Cerro Coso men's basketball team hosted San Bernardino Valley at Raymond McCue Pavilion in a battle between the two teams tied for second place in Inland Empire Athletic Conference with a 5-1 record. The game between the Coyotes and Wolverines was close all night with the feel of a playoff game with the home crowd cheering on the home team. But the Coyotes missed the game-winning shot with a second left and fell to the Wolverines, 60-59.

"It was a high-level game. I thought we competed. There were five offensive rebounds in the second half that they converted on and then we didn't make some plays we needed to down the stretch. Simple as that — we had great looks," said head coach Chris Dugan on his team's performance.

Anthony Edouard led the Coyotes with a double-double of 20 points and 18 rebounds with seven on the offensive glass and three steals. Jason Morris added 11 points with four rebounds and four assists. Tzahari Trevino just missed scoring in double digits with nine points before fouling out in the second half.

The game had a few ties and only three lead changes. Cerro Coso finished the game shooting 38.6% from the field on 57 attempts, 14.3% from the three-point line on 14 attempts, and 56.5% from the free-throw line on 23 attempts. The Coyotes finished with 33 rebounds with 14 offensive rebounds, 10 assists, nine steals and a block, but committed 10 turnovers.

The Coyotes went into halftime leading 25-24 and began the second half with an 8-0 run. The run began with Edouard with an offensive rebound and layup. Trevino stole the ball for a layup, and both Morris and Edouard hit both of their free throws for a 33-24 lead. But the lead did not last as Cerro Coso began to give up too many second chances to San Bernardino Valley and struggled at the free-throw line.

With 10 minutes left, Jon Leggett went 1-for-2 from the free-throw line to tie the game at 39-39. After tying the game, the Coyotes' defense struggled to grab the defensive rebound and the offense failed to score, giving the Wolverines a 5-0 run. Leggett cut into the deficit after hitting two free throws and Jami Hagger hit a three on a pass from Morris cutting the deficit to 46-44.

But the Wolverines scored five unanswered points on a technical foul called against Cerro Coso. The Coyotes cut the deficit to a point on a dunk and layup from an offensive rebound from Edouard and a hook shot from Trent Gordon.

After a two from the Wolverines, the Coyotes answered with Edouard scoring a layup on an offensive rebound, which led to a timeout by the visitors. After the timeout, the visitors scored on a second-chance attempt. Leggett scored after grabbing an offensive rebound and Gordon went one-for-two from the free-throw line, cutting the deficit to 57-55.

Hagger went 1-for-2 from the free throw line to cut the deficit to a point, but the Wolverines scored in the paint. Leggett found AJ McLaughlin for a corner three to give the home team a 59-58 lead with 2:27 left. The Wolverines scored on a jumper to take a 60-59 lead, and both teams struggled to score in the final minute.

After a back-to-back timeout with a second left in the game, Cerro Coso had the ball under the Wolverines' basket. Leggett throw the in-bound pass to Edouard, who took a jump shot that hit the iron and bounced out.

After the game, Dugan said on having the fans come out and cheering his team, "first time all year the community came out and supported. And it helps."

With the loss, Cerro Coso falls to 5-2 in conference for third place. They would have the conference's final spot for the playoffs if the season ended today. The Coyotes are on the road Saturday facing Barstow in a must-win game.

Dugan said on facing the Vikings after a tough loss, "got to lick our wounds. We have 12 hours to get over it. We have to stay in third place. We have to go win this game and go from there."