Panthers top Spartans
Porterville ranked No. 2 in Div. IV
The Porterville High School girls basketball team once again showed why they’re the No. 2 team in the CIF Central Section Division IV with a 57-41 win over Strathmore in Thursday’s Div. IV showdown at home.
Ranked 10th in the Valley, and second in the Div. IV, Thursday’s 16-point wins was the Panthers (15-2) 12th double-digit win of the season.
“We’re playing very good defense,” PHS head coach Dave Kavern said. “There have been a couple of games when our offense has struggled the first half, but you’ve heard the old saying, ‘Defense travels.’ So we work a lot on defense everyday. Our zone coverage, breaking it down — the top of the zone, the bottom of the zone. Running at shooters, which is my philosophy want my players running at shooters. Make the girl put it on the floor and do something.”
It was another big game for PHS sophomore forward Jazlynne Medrano, who put up 13 points in the first quarter to push Porterville ahead 17-8 in the first quarter. Medrano finished with 15 points, just one behind freshman power forward Cienna Enriquez who finished with 16 points after scoring 14 in the second half.
“When she gets off to a good start, she’s tough to stop,” Kavern said about Medrano. “I think in the [second] quarter Strathmore (11-7) went triangleand-2 on her and Hailey Johnson, and Hailey came off the bench and hit three big three’s and that sort of widened out their zone and helped us out a lot.”
Up 30-16 at halftime, Porterville continued to pull away and took a 22-point lead less than midway through the third quarter. Despite the Panthers going to their bench, the young Spartans had costly turnovers from rushed passes and were outrebounded, which prevented them from developing a rhythm offensively.
“The kids are hanging their heads a lot,” SHS head coach Richard Miranda said. “Porterville’s a good team, we knew coming in that they’re not ranked No. 2 in the division for nothing. They’re one of the top 20 teams in the Valley. We thought, the girls put the work in, but we were just intimidated. That first quarter, you could see it with not taking care of the ball.”
Freshman guard Jazmine Soto had a game-high 29 points, topped off with six steals and four rebounds to lead the Spartans after a big 11-point fourth quarter that cut into the Panthers’ 25-point lead midway through the fourth quarter. Miranda, compared the freshman to former Spartans guard, Mariah Hernandez who was The Recorder’s 2016-17 All-orange Belt Girls Basketball Player of the Year and two-time East Sequoia League Most Valuable Player.
“It’s funny, I had Mariah for four years and they said Mariah’s one of those girls that come once every 10 years,” Miranda said. “Well Lord, behold the basketball gods have blessed me with somebody that’s every bit of that or more, and she’s only a freshman.”
Up next the, Spartans travel to Div. V Firebaugh (4-7) for a 6:30 p.m. game Wednesday, Jan. 10 and the Panthers host Div. IV Lindsay (4-7) Monday, Jan. 8 at 7:30 p.m. Both Porterville and Strathmore also begin league play next week, with
the Panthers hosting threetime defending East Yosemite League champion, Div. II Mission Oak (10-4), on Friday and the Spartans hosting Woodlake (6-4) at 6:30 p.m.
“We almost got them at their place, we lost 40-38,” Kavern said about playing Mission Oak. “They’re a very good team, it’s going to be a real good game.”