The Reedley College men's basketball Tigers recorded a split in the first two games of a three-game home stand by edging West Valley College 72-67 Saturday afternoon at Reedley's Paul Mitchell Court.
Reedley takes a 6-1 record into a Nov. 26 home contest against Solano College before taking a break for the Thanksgiving holiday. The Tigers will return to the court on Dec. 5 against Napa Valley College in the 42nd annual James Clark Classic tournament in Sacramento.
Head Coach T.J. Jennings' squad had its five-game winning streak snapped after an 82-70 loss to the Cerro Coso Community College Coyotes on Nov. 20. The Tigers made only 5-of-22 3-pointers in the loss. Anthony Martinez had four of those treys and led the Tigers with 18 points.
Against West Valley, the visitors pulled to within one point on three different occasions in the final five minutes. A four-point play by Richard Corona with 20 seconds left increased Reedley's lead to 70-64. A 3-pointer by Dylan Johnston cut that lead in half with 10.7 seconds left. A second later, two free throws by Corona closed out the scoring.
Corona led all scorers with a season-high 18 points. Hassan Bolden had 14 of his 17 points for the Tigers while Uriah Carter followed with 15. Reedley made 14-of-16 free throws in the victory.
"One of the things that is a testament to our team that's it not about one individual," said the coach. "Each game, we've seen different players step up. And that's really cool to see. This game, it was Richard Corona that knocked down some gigantic shots. We've encouraged him and loving on him. And his teammates have been encouraging him. Just to see the fruits of his labor, putting in some extra time. That's fantastic. One guy doesn't have to feel the pressure to do everything."
When last week's action started, the Reedley men were ranked 24th up in the state by the California Community College Men's Basketball Coaches Association. They were one of four previously undefeated teams to suffer their first loss last week. Two Central Valley Conference teams, Columbia and the College of the Sequoias, took a perfect record into the holiday weekend.
By: Will Goldbeck