Porterville girls win showdown for first

So Porterville High girls water polo coach Richard Taylor calls timeouts with 50 seconds left and his team clinging to an 11-8 lead over a stubborn Monache team that just wouldn’t go away.

So Taylor is going to tell his team to milk the clock, right? Think again.

Taylor exhorted Matlyn Morris to shoot, and Morris did just that. Morris didn’t waste any time in scoring on the man up situation to give Porterville a 12-8 win over Monache on Tuesday at PHS in the showdown for first in the East Yosemite League. Poterville improved to 7-0 in the EYL while Monache fell to 6-1.

So coach, the prudent move would have still been to milk the clock, right? “We can’t sit on the ball for 50 seconds,” Taylor said. “We’ve got to take the ball down and do something.”

Then when the point was brought up that he still could have run 30 seconds off the shot clock, Taylor responded, “Did (we) score? Then it was worth it. But the play did work. When you’re a man up you don’t sit on it.”

Especially with a player like Morris, who scored six goals.

It looked like Porterville would run away and hide when it jumped out to a 3-0 lead when Kassidy Lane scored on an assist from Morris and Caitlyn Hill scored twice. But as it did all night, Monache wouldn’t go away with Shannon Kaye scoring to cut the deficit to 3-1 after one quarter.

“We could have folded at that point,” Monache coach Ryan Atchley said. “I haven’t seen my team battle like that in a while. They just never gave up. It’s not fun losing to Porterville especially when you’re playing for a league championship. They deserved it. They’re not undefeated for nothing. I’m not happy but I’m pleased with the way the girls battled.”

Taylor agreed with Atchley’s assessment on how Monache pushed his team. “Ryan Atchley has done a real good job with his team,” Taylor said. “We need games like this when it’s tough when we have to play the whole game. I’m just real pleased with how the girls responded.”

Porterville went up 6-2 after Marnie Kavern drew an ejection and then found Morris for a goal. But Monache battled back again with Allegra Fritz scoring and Bailey Likewise scoring on a backhanded shot to pull the Marauders to within 6-4 at halftime.

Likewise then scored again to bring Monache to within 6-5. But Porterville went on a 4-0 run and led 9-5 after Hill and Kavern each drew ejections that led to goals by Morris. After Hill scored from six meters to give Porterville a 10-5 lead, it appeared PHS was in control.

But here came Monache again as Lindsey Kennel scored and Likewise drew an ejection and then scored on a pass from Fritz to make it 10-7. Monache then forced two straight turnovers, but a save by Maryrose McGinn and hen a seal by Wednesday Marquez kept Porterville safely ahead. Monache still kept fighting with Kaye scoring off a steal by Elizabeth Jacobs to make it 11-8.

Hill scored four goals and Mikayla Scheer scored once for the Panthers. Likewise scored three goals and Kaye and Fritz each scored twice for Monache.

Atchley praised the play of Likewise and goalie Taryn Thompson. “Taryn played phenomenal in the goal,” said Atchley about Thompson, who blocked a five-meter shot. “Bailey Likewise really stepped up.”