The Dr. Raymond A. McCue Athletic Complex welcomed the No. 2 ranked Mt. San Jacinto Eagles to open the Inland Empire Athletic Conference against the No. 16 Cerro Coso Coyotes. Both teams went into the Inland Empire opener on a positive with the Coyotes on a two-game winning streak and the Eagles on a 12-game winning streak.
Following an entertaining 40-minute match between Cerro Coso and Mt. San Jacinto, the Coyotes handed the Eagles their first loss of the season, a 91-78 win that earned a standing ovation from the home fans who attended the game. Head Coach Chris Dugan was unavailable after the game to speak on the win as he headed to the hospital to be with his wife for the birth of their first child.
Throughout the season, Coach Dugan has said when his team plays defense then his team becomes very difficult to score on, and that was front and center during the 18-0 run from the Coyotes that gave them control of the game. During the run, the Coyotes defense fueled the offense creating fast break chances off steals, and holding the Eagles to one offensive possession including a shot clock violation. The team rebounded as a unit, was quick on the rotation, and when they switched on defense, they did not give the Eagles an advantage in the post.
The Coyotes finish the year on the road traveling to Barstow on Friday for their Inland Empire Athletic Conference road opener at 5 p.m. They return home on Saturday, January 6th, hosting Palo Verde at 3 p.m. The rematch between Mt. San Jacinto and Cerro Coso is scheduled for Saturday, January 27th at San Jacinto College.
The first half began with the Coyotes opening the scoring on a putback layup from Darnell Turner Jr. The Eagles went on to score the next five points until Sincere Edwards scored on a contested layup to cut the deficit to one, 5-4. Eddie Garner found Joshua Escheik open for a three in the corner to give the Coyotes the lead at 7-5. Trent Gordon went two for two from the charity stripe to give the home team a one-point lead, but the Eagles hit a three and the Coyotes responded with Destin Jenkins going one for two at the line to trail 12-10. Jenkins then hit a corner three on a pass from Escheik to cut the deficit to one, 14-13. The Eagles responded by going on a 9-0 run the next two minutes until Jenkins hit a three on a pass from Gardner. The home team trailed 23-16 with 12:30 left in the half. The home team made a small run on a dunk from Turner, a layup from Gordon, and another layup from the baseline from Turner to cut the visitors lead to one, 23-22.
Mt. San Jacinto scored the next four points until Jenkins hit a corner three on a pass from Turner with 10:09 left on the clock. The Coyotes trailed 27-25 to start their 18-0 run. Jenkins was fouled attempting a three point and hit two of three from the line. Escheik found Turner for a three and Jenkins hit another three on a pass from Gardner for a 33-27 lead. Turner hit a jump shot from the elbow and Escheik capped the run with a corner three from a Jenkins pass to lead 38-27 and force the visitors into a timeout. But the No. 2 team in the state responded with a 5-0 run until Malachi Greenwich hit a three with an assist to Gardner for a 41-32 lead.
Jenkins got free on the baseline and hit a fadeaway jump shot and Escheik scored on a contested layup and Gordon got an easy layup on a pass from Escheik. But the Eagles scored the next four points until Jonathan Leggett hit a jump shot with 14 seconds left in the half. The Coyotes went to the locker room leading 49-40.
The second half began with the Coyotes going on a 6-0 run with a layup from Turner and Jenkins and Turner both hitting two free throws each for a 55-40 lead. The visitors then scored the next four points and Gardner stopped the run with a three on a pass from Edwards for a 58-44 lead. The Eagles again went on a small 4-0 run until Escheik hit a three from the top of the key to lead 61-48, but the visitors went on an 8-0 run to cut the lead to five. The Coyotes responded with Greenwich hitting a three on a pass from Leggett to extend the lead to eight.
Turner pushed the lead back to double digit when he hit both his free throws and Jenkins continued the run hitting his two free throws for a 68-56 lead. Greenwich hit a bank shot for a 70-56 lead and capped a 9-0 run. Turner went one for two at the line to give the Coyotes an 11-point lead, 71-60. He then scored on a contested layup, hit both his free throws, and Gordon scored a layup for a 77-64 lead with 5:41 left in the game.
After the visitors scored on a layup, Turner hit a jump shot and Gordon scored with a skyhook in the post for an 81-66 lead. The visitors scored the next five point and cut the lead to 81-71. During a scramble Jenkins found the ball and went down court, hit a layup with a blocking call against the Eagles, and hit his free throw for an 84-71 lead that got the crowd out of their seats. Edwards and Gardner both hit one of two from the charity strip for a 10-point lead, 86-76. Edwards went three of four from the line on two separate fouls and with 11 seconds left in the game, Gordon hit a tomahawk dunk to cap the win.
Eduardo Miranda
The Daily Independent