Coronado girls crank up defense, roll to victory over Green Valley

After watching Green Valley’s girls basketball team score the first seven points Thursday, Coronado coach Bill Crego felt a familiar sense of concern.

His Cougars struggled early in a 13-point loss at Green Valley on Jan. 6. However, Thursday’s rematch had anything but a familiar ending.

Coronado turned up its full-court pressure, rattled off a 39-10 first-half run and rolled to a 77-47 home win.

“We were having deja vu,” Crego said. “The last game we were over there, we didn’t score a basket until almost two minutes to go in the first quarter. We just couldn’t hit a shot, and we started out the same way here. I knew we’d break the lid open eventually, but it was a little scary.”

Sofie Cruz poured in 31 points for the Cougars (17-8, 8-3 Southeast League). The junior guard shot 11-for-12 from the free-throw line.

“Last time at Green Valley, they stole it from us, and we just really wanted to come out tonight and make a statement,” Cruz said. “Our team played great, we played until the end, and I’m really happy with our performance.”

Cruz hit a 3-pointer and teammate Carli Smith knocked down a jumper from the elbow on consecutive possessions to cap a 14-5 run in the third quarter and give Coronado a 58-32 lead.

The Cougars combined full-court pressure with a mix of man-to-man and zone defenses to hold Green Valley (14-10, 6-5) to 13-for-42 shooting from the field.

“We felt we should have beat them last time, but we played a horrible game against them, so we were glad to redeem ourselves,” Crego said. “It’s a big victory, because as long as we take care of business, we’re going to be in the playoffs.”

Lexi Melone scored 12 of her 15 points in the first half for Coronado.

Skylar Feldman added seven points for the Cougars, and freshman guard Kealy Brown supplied six points, 12 rebounds and three steals.

“Kealy, as a freshman, is amazing. She does everything right,” Crego said. “I can’t say enough about the way she plays as a freshman. She keeps rebounding, and she doesn’t turn the ball over.”

Maggie Manwarren led Green Valley with 16 points.

Angelica Mack had nine points and six rebounds for the Gators, and Rianna Rudolph added nine points.

Coronado won its sixth straight game and stayed in third place in the Southeast, two games ahead of fourth-place Green Valley.

“The youth of this team makes me especially proud of the way they responded,” Crego said.