Cerro Coso nipped 80-75 in first conference home game of year
By Nathan Ahle, The Daily Independent
The Cerro Coso Coyotes made great strides tonight, but fell just short
of the goal again.
The Mt. San Jacinto Eagles defeated the Coyotes Saturday night, 80-75,
in the first home game for Cerro Coso since the season-opening
tournament.
"We are in a tailspin right now," said Coyotes Head Coach Larry Bird.
"We're hoping we can pull out of it soon."
The Eagles, considered by many to be one of the stronger teams in the
Foothill Conference, were matched fairly evenly by Cerro Coso, but
timely shooting sent the Coyotes to defeat.
Cerro Coso trailed 39-34 going into halftime, after jumping out to a
four-point lead in the first seven minutes of the game.
"Thirty-nine points in the first half is too many," said Bird.
Perimeter shooting was a strong point for Mt. San Jacinto, as Adrian
Reed and Tihon Johnson each drained three-pointers at critical times to
keep the Coyotes at bay.
"Those three-pointers certainly hurt us," Bird said.
For the second game in a row, a strong second half kept the Coyotes in
the ballgame.
Karl Williams and Nathan Hiner each hit crucial three-pointers in the
half, keeping things close. Hiner scored nine points and Williams seven
on the evening.
"This is becoming a trend," said Bird of the shooting of Hiner and
Williams. "It's an added dimension to our offense that we didn't have
before."
In fact, Bird was pleased with the offense as a whole. The Coyotes'
75-point output is their second-highest of the season.
"I felt that we made great progress on offense tonight," Bird commented.
Cerro Coso was led on offense by Keymonte Edwards, who drew high praise
from Bird after a 22-point night. The total was a career-high for the
sophomore. Frank Saketa put up 16 points in the effort, followed by
Tyrone Taylor with 14.
However, a key area where the Coyotes fell short on the night was
free-throw shooting. Cerro Coso converted only 17 of 27 attempts from
the line, with several of the missed attempts coming at crucial times.
"That's not good enough," said Bird."
The game was tight throughout most of the second half, with the Coyotes
trailing 74-70 with under one minute to go. Michael Longmire picked up a
huge rebound at the other end, but fell coming down with the ball and
was called for traveling. The Eagles scored on the ensuing possession,
and appeared to have things wrapped up, until Edwards hit a
three-pointer to cut the lead to 76-73 with five seconds remaining.
Cerro Coso called timeout, but with no timeouts remaining, was assessed
a technical foul. The Eagles scored on the free throws to seal the win.
Cerro Coso (7-12, 0-2) will have a bye Wednesday before facing Rio Hondo
College at home next Saturday night. Rio Hondo was a second-tier team in
the Foothill Conference last season, but after scouting them, Bird is
impressed with this year's edition.
The Roadrunners did not win a game in the month of November, but take on
Cerro Coso after having what Bird called "a great December."
"They are a vastly improved team, no question about it," said Bird.
"This is a must-win game for us."
"There are no easy nights in this conference," Bird added. "On any given
night, any team can be beaten."
"We just have to improve on defense and fine-tune some things
offensively," he said.
Tipoff next Saturday night is set for 7 p.m. at the Raymond McCue
Athletic Complex.
January 5, 2003
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The Daily Independent.
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