Eduardo Miranda
The Daily Independent
Coming off a win to open the Coso Classic, the Cerro Coso men's basketball team had a much different task if it wanted to go unbeaten in its own tournament and earn a two-game winning streak. The Coyotes were up against Sequoias, a perennial powerhouse in 3C2A. For a half, the Coyotes were able to contend with the Giants' length and height, but they ultimately fell short in the second half in a 79-50 home loss.
"We battled in the first half. We talked about play smart, play hard, and play together, but also, when playing hard you have to start competing. We competed in the first half, but then we just get tired because we don't have the bodies. They are great team. They have a chance to play in the Elite Eight and that type of stuff. It's a tough opponent. To beat good teams, they are ranked in the top five, stuff happens. You just have to be better," said head coach Chris Dugan on his team's performance.
Cerro Coso finished the game shooting 31.3% from the field on 48 attempts, 0% from the three-point line after missing 15 attempts, and 69% from the free-throw line on 29 attempts. The Coyotes had 37 rebounds with nine on the offensive glass but struggled with only one assist, no steals, a block, and 24 turnovers.
They had two players score in double digits with Issiakoi Aminou leading the team with 15 points and five rebounds. Jay Matthews had 10 points with seven rebounds and a block. Terrance Sims Jr. led the team with 10 rebounds, and Marc Vincent had the team's sole assist.
Playing against a quality program like Sequoias, Dugan spoke on the experience for his team and how it can prepare them for a conference opponent and maybe what to expect if the team makes the playoffs.
"Yeah, it prepares you for San Bernardino. You get a chance to play San Bern. But I'm not even thinking about that. At this point of the year, we are No. 1 trying to get better. So, every day we are focused on getting better. What can we do to get better? Can we improve? Can we all be bought in to the things we need to do? And I feel we turned a corner as a group and started to do the stuff we needed to do," he said.
In the first half, the Coyotes played mostly a 2-3 zone defense, which allowed them to rebound and defend as a unit. It allowed the Coyotes to play with the Giants and at moments look capable of earning a quality win.
Demarris Day opened the scoring for the home team by making both his free throws after being fouled going for a layup. Sims hit a floater in the paint to give Cerro Coso a 4-2 lead. After Sequoias tied the game, Day scored by attacking the rim and hitting an up and under layup. Matthews won an offensive rebound, made the high banking fadeaway with a foul, but missed the and-one free throw. He then hit a floater in the lane to give his team a 10-6 lead.
Out of the timeout, Vincent was fouled attempting a three and made all three free throws for a 13-9 lead. But the visitors stormed back to take a 14-13 lead, and Matthews answered by hitting both his free throws to retake the lead. After the Giants tied the game, Aminou hit a reverse layup to put the Coyotes up 17-15. After the visitors went on a 5-0 run, Aminou cut the deficit to a point after grabbing an offensive rebound and scoring a layup. That led to a Cerro Coso timeout with the Coyotes trailing 20-19.
After the timeout, Sequoias went on a 4-0 run until Matthews scored a layup from an offensive rebound, cutting the deficit to three. Back-to-back layups from Idris Mukendi kept the home team within striking distance at 27-25. But after a three from the visitors, the Coyotes called a timeout trailing 30-25 with 2:21 left in the half. The Coyotes struggled to score in the final two minutes with the last bucket coming from Aminou, who went one-for-two from the line with 44 seconds left. Cerro Coso went into the half trailing 38-26.
"You can only run smoke and mirrors for so long, and then they figure out we are changing defense and not guarding the guy. At the end of the day, they are talented and they are going to figure it out. It's tough. They kind of see blood in the water, and it kind of got away. We did hang around, we got it to 11, but the wheels eventually just fell off. But guys have to play better as I can't go out there and make shots. We have to make shots," said Dugan on Sequoias' run to end the first half and their struggles afterward.
The game did not get easier for the Coyotes in the second half, especially after switching from the 2-3 zone to a man-to-man defense to end the first half. The Coyotes on multiple occasions left a Giant open in the middle of the lane who then made the extra pass to score or made an easy layup. The Coyotes' offense struggled to get back into the game as the Giants' length and height hurt the team's ability to get into the lane.
To start the second half, the Coyotes went to Aminou in the paint and he was fouled on two occasions but went two-for-four from the line, cutting the deficit to 40-28. After an easy bucket from the visitors, Dugan called a timeout. Out of the timeout, the Coyotes went to Aminou in the paint, who was fouled and hit both his free throws. That cut the deficit to 12 at 42-30.
The next three minutes, the Coyotes went cold on offense, but the defense was able to hold the visitors to only four points until Sims hit a jumper, 46-32. The offense went cold for another two minutes and held the visitors to only three points until Sims scored on a layup, cutting the deficit to 49-34. Sims scored a third straight after grabbing the offensive rebound and scoring on the putback. Vincent found Aminou for a reverse layup cutting the deficit to 49-38.
Sequoias scored the next five points until Aminou and Matthews made both their free throws, cutting the deficit to 12, 54-42. After making a stop, Matthews scored on a spin to get open for a layup and cut the deficit to 10 points. But that was the closest the Coyotes got to the Giants. The visitors responded scoring the next five points and called a timeout with less than 10 minutes and leading 59-44.
The next three minutes saw the Giants take control of the game, making the adjustments on the defensive end to keep the Coyotes out of the paint and forced into contested shots against an expiring shot clock. The visitors went on a 7-0 run that was snapped by Mukendi scoring off an offensive rebound. But the Coyotes' struggle at the free-throw line hurt the team with Mukendi and Sims both missing both their free throws. Aminou went to the line after grabbing the offensive board and being fouled. He made both his free throws. The Coyotes' final bucket came at the charity stripe with Mukendi making both free throws cutting the deficit to 77-50.
The Coyotes will look to bounce back from the loss hosting LA Southwest in the final game of a five-game homestand on Tuesday. Tipoff is set for 5 p.m. Dugan spoke on the upcoming opponent.
"We have a tough one, LA Southwest is talented. They beat Sequoias, and it's just a different matchup when it comes to that. We just need to focus on us and do the things we need to do," he said.
In the final day of the Coso Classic, Pasadena City defeated Palo Verde, 97-72. In the second game, Mira Costa defeated Victor Valley, 83-67