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The Reedley High
Pirates withstood a late rally by the homestanding Edison High
Tigers to defeat the talented Fresno squad 55-47. With the
victory the Pirates improved their season's record to 20-3.
Reedley is 8-1 in NYL action and in no worse than a first place tie
with Sunnyside.
Coach Darren Minami's
team opened up a 16-8 first quarter lead thanks to senior Jon
Wallen's 11 point performance. Wallen made two strong
drives, a 12 foot jump shot, two free throws, and a three pointer to
pace the PIrates. But it was Wallen's pass to Abel Lucca, setting
up a shot from behind the arc, that gave the Pirates the
early 7-4 lead they would never relilnquish.
In the second frame
Abel Lucca scored 8 points in the final 2:15 of the half to push the
Pirates half-time lead to 32-15.
In the second half
the Edison five demonstrated that the string of Valley
championship banners hanging around their gym are there for a
reason. The Tigers slowly clawed and scratched their way back
into the game. When senior point guard and co-captain Jon Lepp
was whistled for two quick fouls in the third quarter the Pirate
faithful began to grow restless. Minami was forced to assign
Lepp to the bench with 5:27 remaining in the third quarter.
Still the Pirates, playing tough defense throughout the quarter,
managed to carry a 39-25 lead into the final quarter. Wallen
was the only Pirate to score in the third quarter.
In the fourth quarter
play was repeatedly stopped because of fouls. First Ian
Brinkman, and then Pepijn Dekker, fouled out of the game. The
Pirates pushed the lead to 50-35 on a basket by Lucca with 3:28
remaining, but soon thereafter, Lepp fouled out of the game.
With less than a
minute to go, and leading 52-42, the Pirates surrendered five quick
points. The lead was reduced to 52-47 with 39 seconds
left in the game when Jon Wallen walked to the free throw line.
Wallen converted both shots from the charity stripe, padding the
lead to seven, and effectively ended Edison's chances.
Wallen finished the
game with 23 and Lucca scored 16 on the night. Colin Hofer
scored 6, Lepp 4, Brinkman 2, Jose Alvarez 2, and Jordan Penner 2 to
complete the PIrates' scoring.
All night long Minami
received valiant efforts underneath the boards from Brinkman, Dekker,
Andrew Busch, Hofer, and Wallen.
The Pirates return to
action next Tuesday evening when they host the Sunnyside Wildcats in
a season ending match for the NYL title.
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