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Tiger basketball teams open Division II playoffs at home Tuesday and Wednesday
The playoff seeds were announced Saturday and Lemoore could very well be playing Hanford again in the second round of the Division II playoffs. The Tigers open on Wednesday, Feb. 25 at home against Memorial. If the Tigers win, and Hanford wins its opener against Hoover, Lemoore will play in Hanford at 7 p.m. The boys completed their regular season at 19-6.
The Lady Tigers, seeded No. 8, will open against No. 9 Tehachapi on Tuesday at home, and if they win will have to hit the road for a game against No. 1 Independence on Thursday.
Division II Boys Playoff Brackets
Division II Girls Playoff Brackets
Lemoore’s boys, after falling behind early in Wednesday’s game, staged a furious comeback in the second quarter to take the lead. Jaylunn English fueled much of the comeback and finished with 20 points.
However, the Tigers fell flat in the second half, scoring only three fourth quarter points – Al Perryman’s 3-pointer – as the Bullpups outlasted the Tigers, enabling them to share the West Yosemite League championship with Lemoore. Both teams finished 11-1.
In Lemoore, the Lady Tigers actually led most of the way until final seconds of the third period when Hanford scored to take a 34-32 lead into the final period.
The Tigers kept it close and cut the gap to 39-42 on a clever in-bounds play by Katelynn Cole, who bounced it off the back of a Hanford player, retrieved the ball, and promptly scored on a short basket. Cole ended up leading the Tigers in scoring with 13 points. Jazmyne Taylor had 12 for Lemoore.
Lemoore used some deft passing and a soft touch off the backboard to keep the Bullpups at bay. A perfect inside pass from Dani Kinder to Bobbie Henry gave Lemoore an early 15-7 lead. A bucket early in the second period by Taylor made it 16-8. Cole connected on a 3-pointer at the 3:55 mark of the second period to maintain Lemoore’s lead at 19-14.
The Lady Tigers were 15-10 overall and 7-4 in the WYL. The Bullpups shared the WYL title with Redwood at 11-1.
