Eduardo Miranda

The Daily Independent

After a decade, the Raymond McCue Pavilion hosted a Cerro Coso women's basketball game. The Coyotes made their home debut against Southwestern College after competing in the San Joaquin Delta tournament and finishing with a 2-1 record. The Coyotes playing in front of a crowd of enthusiastic supports put on a high-scoring, strong defensive showing that was created on off and on ball movement for a 101-47 win.

"Really good competition," said head coach Keshawn Johnson. "In terms of what we brought to the table we played hard, defended well, and shot the ball well. Proud of the group for competing."

Cerro Coso finished the game shooting 42.6% from the field on 94 attempts, 20.9% from the three-point line on 43 attempts, and 63.2% from the free-throw line on 19 attempts. The Coyotes finished with three players scoring in double digits led by Shaniyah McCarthy with a double-double of 25 points and 13 rebounds. Savannah Rowland had 12 points with six assists. Skyla Kinsley had 10 points with five rebounds and four steals off the bench.

It took only 10 minutes for the Coyotes to take control of the game. The Coyotes opened by forcing the Jaguars into a turnover for folding the ball for three seconds in the key, and that led to McCarthy finding Sierra Dixson in the corner for a three-pointer.

The Coyotes then forced the Jaguars' ball handler to travel and on the ensuing play, S. Rowland went down the middle of the lane for a layup. The Coyotes forced another turnover, and Dixson scored on a layup from an assist from Iliana Nye. After that 7-0 run, Southwestern hit a three-pointer for its first points.

After Southwestern scored, Cerro Coso went on 15-2 run that began with Nye going 1-for-2 from the charity stripe. Gracelynn Rowland hit a corner three and a layup, S. Rowland scored a layup on a steal from Lia Sims, and G. Rowland scored a layup on a pass from S. Rowland after a steal from McCarthy.

Cerro Coso led 17-3, and the run continued with McCarthy going 1-for-2 from the free-throw line before Southwestern banked in a jump shot, and the Coyotes responded with a Sims hitting a fadeaway jump shot. McCarthy hit both her free throws after grabbing the offensive rebound for a 22-5 lead. Shayla Kantarevic hit a three, McCarthy hit a jump shot and the free throw to finish a three-point play, and she then hit a layup for a 30-12 lead at the end of the first quarter.

"We played very free today, which is good, but at the same time it led to a lot of careless errors," Johnson said about his team's style of play. "We have to clean those things up, and we will continue to get better with our movement, be sure everybody gets touches per possession, ball reversal, and do a better job of playing inside out."

The Coyotes never let the Jaguars back into the game as they continued to dominate on the boards both offensive and defense, and used a combination of a full-court and half-court press to force turnovers. The Coyotes' defense held the Jaguars to 10 points in the second quarter, 12 points in the third, and 13 in the fourth.

The offense scored 19 points in the second quarter, 31 points in the third, and 21 points in the fourth. The Coyotes' offense used ball movement in the half court and forced turnovers to score layups. When they ran their half-court offense it resulted in layups or open looks from the perimeter, and their ability to crash the boards gave them two or three extra possessions.

When speaking on what he wants his team to take from the win and on getting their first home win, the Coyotes coach said, "just hope they take momentum and roll with it. We have a lot of work to do on the defensive and offensive end. A lot of things to clean up, and they know that, but I'm hoping they just enjoy the moment and push forward.

"It feels good. Very grateful for the support of the community who could make it out. The students of Coso who made it out did a really good job of cheering these guys on. It felt good to have that kind of support and happy to get a game in."

Cerro Coso continues its homestand hosting Porterville on Saturday, 11/16/24 at 2 p.m.