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The Reedley Pirates
opened Division II playoff action with a 75-53 over the visiting
Foothill Trojans. Coach Darren Minami's Pirates raced to a
18-6 first quarter lead and never looked back in improving their
season's record to 22-3. With the win the Pirates move into
the Division II quarterfinals.
Building on their
advantage at the eight minute mark, the Pirates further asserted
their authority in the second quarter, pushing the pace and
applying pressure to Foothill's guards. At the half the
score was 36-13 and the evening's essential question decisively
settled.
Minami's team
turned in an uninspiring second half performance, commiting fouls
and needless turnovers, but with the game clearly in hand Reedley
fans could sit back and engage in friendly chit-chat.
Colin Hofer summed
up his team's performance in saying, "we played a good first
half but in the second half we made careless turnovers and had no
passion." Hofer's game itself was not completely
without intensity as the versatile junior mustered enough energy
to lead all scorers on the night with 20.
Minami commented
after the game, "it's a win--good first half, poor second
half." Minami now realizes that he has one day to
prepare his students for Thursday's quarterfinal game against the
winner of tonight's North/Mt. Whitney matchup in Bakersfield.
The game will be played in Reedley but Minami knows that either
team will provide a tough test for his Pirates.
Abel Lucca nailed
five three point shots on the night and finished with 17.
Jon Wallen poured home 16, Jose Alvarez contributed 8,
Andrew Busch scored 6, Pepijn Dekker posted 5, and Jon Lepp
added 3 points to round out the Pirates' scoring.
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