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Coso unable to survive second half tempo: 66-58 decision puts postseason in ‘dire straits’

By Kyle Kensing, Sports Editor, The Daily Independent

“It was a tale of two halves...”

A 7-0 Antelope Valley run in the final minute-and-a-half Monday night sealed a 66-58 loss for the Cerro Coso Lady Coyotes.

Despite leading 27-21 at halftime, Coso (20-7, 8-4 Foothill Conference) trailed for much of the second half, thanks to a high-pressure, uptempo brand of AVC (23-6, 10-1) basketball after the intermission.

“It was a tale of two halves,” said Coso head coach Tom Heck. “[Antelope Valley] seemed to have an answer for everything.”

That certainly seemed the case, as Paris Allen buried a 3-pointer with just over a minute to play that brought the Lady Coyotes within three, just before the final Roadrunner outburst.

It was the second time a big Coso three was answered with an AVC run that half, as earlier Mariah Bomberry’s triple that brought Coso within four was the predecessor to a 9-2 Antelope Valley run.

The first half was the complete opposite, as the visiting Roadrunners had seemingly no answer for Cerro Coso.

The Lady Coyotes, led by a big half from Allen and forward Angel Lash, opened up a 27-15 lead 18 minutes into the game.

“We were playing at a slow pace, and everything was going great,” Heck said of the first half.

Antelope Valley was not content to play in a slow-down game, so the second half saw the Roadrunners switch from a half-court man-to-man to a full court zone trap.

The result was transition buckets for the visitors, to the tune of 14 fastbreak points on the half.

It was a disappointing way to follow up a big win Saturday at Long Beach City College.

Behind Lash’s 27 points, the Lady Coyotes won this non-conference clash 61-57.

The AVC loss puts Coso in a make-or-break situation for the remaining two games.

The Foothill Conference sends its top two teams to the State Tournament, so the Lady Coyotes have no margin for error next week when they host College of the Desert Feb. 13 at 7 p.m.

Coso’s regular season concludes Feb. 18 with a road contest against Chaffey.

Tuesday, February 7, 2006

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