Coyotes hold off Lancers for first win of season

Eduardo Miranda

The Daily Independent

The Cerro Coso men's basketball team closed the first day of the Coso Classic hosting Pasadena City. The Coyotes went into the game looking to snap a six-game losing streak, most recently a double-overtime loss to Antelope Valley College.

At the end of 40 minutes, the Coyotes played one of their best games of the season, showing effort, intensity, and flashes of consistency against the Lancers in a 65-60 home win. The win not only snapped the six-game losing streak but is the first of the season for the young Coyotes squad.

"First win of the year. You know regardless, we always celebrate every win. We have a tradition, guys in my first year started, we did stuff like hop in the lockers every win. Every win, you celebrate because it's hard to win. I'm proud of the guys to get the monkey off their back and get a dub," said head coach Chris Dugan on his team's first win.

The Coyotes offense finished shooting 38.3% from 23 out of 60 attempts. They shot 22.7% from the three-point line on five of 22 attempts. They went 66.7% from 14 out of 21 attempts from the charity stripe. The Coyotes finished with only one player not scoring in the game.

Terrance Sims Jr. had a huge game, leading the team in points with 19 and rebounds with nine while tying the team lead in steals with two. Jay Matthews had nine points and tied for team honors with two steals. Demarris Day led the team in assists with four and was one of three players with eight points. Idris Mukendi had eight points and eight rebounds, and Issiakoi Aminou had eight points, five rebounds, and a team-high two blocks.

Off the bench, Lance Bailey Jr. added nine points and two rebounds. Ade Daramola had four points and a rebound.

The Coyotes played one of their most complete games of the season against the Lancers. From tip-off until the final whistle, the Coyotes players played with plenty of effort and intensity but also took the visitors' best shots and continued to play their game. Dugan was pleased with his team showing that boxer's mentality.

"We fought, we had a game plan, we followed the game plan. We went up, they punched us, we punched back. It was nice to see us not fold, and we have folded a lot in these types of games," he said.

Unlike the game against Antelope Valley College, the Coyotes started trailing, but a contested jumper in the paint from Sims tied the game and Mukendi's high bank shot on an inbound play gave the home team an early 4-2 lead. The Coyotes and Lancers traded points for most of the first half with the Coyotes going on strong defensive runs and controlling the boards, allowing them to lead 10-5 after Sims scored on a putback from an offensive rebound but missed the and-one free throw.

But Pasadena City took over for the next two minutes to come back to tie and take a 12-10 lead. The Coyotes showed their ability to take a punch and punch back early, with Sims hitting a floater to tie the game, and two free throws from Matthews gave the lead back to the home team, 14-12. The Lancers tied the game and called a timeout with 10 minutes left in the first.

After the timeout, the Coyotes went on a 4-1 run with Sims finding Bailey open for a three-pointer and Sims hitting one of two from the charity stripe. Afterward, an errant pass from Pasadena City hit Dugan on the sideline, with the referee determining the Coyotes coach was on the court and calling a technical foul against him.

The two teams traded points, and the lead changed twice with Pasadena City taking a brief 20-18 lead. The Coyotes responded to take a 21-20 lead after a free throw from Day and a jumper from the elbow by Daramola. The Coyotes closed the half on a 9-3 run with Aminou scoring on a give-and-go with Day, then Day hitting two free throws, Daramola hitting a jump shot, and Sims scoring on a reverse layup. The Coyotes went into the half with a 29-23 lead.

It took only four minutes in the second half for the Coyotes to build a double-digit lead, 35-25. Bailey hit a three from the top of the key, and Matthews was fouled taking a three-pointer and hit all three free throws. The Coyotes were attacking the boards with Matthews and Aminou grabbing offensive rebounds for a second and third chance. That led to a Pasadena City timeout.

Out of the timeout, the Lancers hit a three-pointer and the Coyotes answered with Day hitting an open three on a pass from Matthews. Matthews then attacked the rim on the ensuing possession to get to the free throw line, where he hit both. Sims attacked the rim and found Aminou open for a dunk. Sims then stole the ball and scored an easy layup, and Mukendi hit a corner three for a 47-33 lead with 14 minutes left in the game.

The Coyotes continued to attack the Lancers' defense with Aminou bullying his defender for an easy bank shot in the post. Arki Thorton Jr. hit a corner three on a pass form Day, and Sims banked a bucket in the post. That led to Dugan calling a timeout with a 54-40 lead.

After the timeout, Mukendi went one for two from the free-throw line, and Sims got free in the post with a spin move for a layup. The Coyotes led 57-47, but the visitors made a run cutting the lead to five, 57-52. Sims responded to snap the Lancers' run with a layup, and on the ensuing Lancer possession, Aminou blocked a shot attempt in the paint.

After Pasadena City scored to cut Coso's lead to five, Matthews stole the ball at the halfcourt line and ran down for an uncontested layup for a 61-54 lead. After the Lancers hit a three, they called a timeout to try to extend the final 2:38 left on the clock. The Coyotes ran down the 24-second shot clock with Sims hitting a floater to extend the lead. Pasadena City scored in the post, which led to Dugan calling a timeout with 1:11 left and a 63-59 lead.

The Coyotes ran their play out of the timeout, taking as much time as possible off the shot clock, but missed the shot. Mukendi was in the paint and fought with the Lancers bigs to grab an offensive rebound and scored on the putback for a 65-59 lead. Pasadena City called a timeout after going one-for-two from the charity stripe, and Sims was fouled early but missed the front end of a one-and-one. With three seconds left on the clock and still leading by five, 65-50, Mukendi blocked a late three-point attempt to help secure the win.

Dugan spoke on the big plays made by his players to help secure the win.

"Idris Mukendi, he was big. He didn't play our first three or four games just because I didn't go to him and went with other guys. He stayed the course and did a phenomenal job making some plays. It's good to stay the course, and I'm happy to see him have some success. Terrance made some nice floaters, some guys made some nice plays, I'm just happy for them," he said.

The Coyotes close the Coso Classic hosting Sequoias. Dugan spoke on what he wants to see from his players against the Giants.

"Play hard, play smart, and play together. What it's always been about since day one. Dean Smith said it 40 years ago and it's always going to be true. And that is what I want to see. It's easy to get up for Sequoias or San Bernardino — they are one of the best teams in the state of California. Great coach and one of my best friend is their assistant coach. I'm excited to have the opportunity to play them on our home court," he said.

The rest of the Coso Classic saw Sequoias open the Coso Classic with a 95-60 win over Victor Valley. In the second game of the day, Mira Costa defeated Palo Verde, 78-58.