The Denair Coyotes boys basketball team fell just short of winning their own tournament this past weekend, winning a pair of close games against Waterford and Turlock Christian before falling to Big Valley Christian in the title game on Saturday.

In their opening game against Waterford on Thursday, the Denair offense exploded in the fourth quarter, outscoring the Wildcats 19-9 en route to a 54-47 victory. Leading all scorers was sophomore Koby Cervantes, who scored 22 points. 

In the Coyotes’ 61-59 win over the Eagles of Turlock Christian on Friday, three different Denair players scored in double figures, with Cervantes once again leading the way with 19 points and nine rebounds. Meanwhile, senior Wyatt Barber posted a double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds. His seven defensive rebounds proved to make the difference down the stretch as they outlasted their opponents by a single bucket.

Against Big Valley Christian, an 18-point performance from senior Landen Borges was not enough to counter the height and physicality of the Lions as they fell by a 86-42 score. By game’s end, the Coyotes were outrebounded 49 to 15.

Despite ending the tournament with a loss, the Coyotes improved their record to 3-4, already matching their win total from a season ago when they went 3-23 overall and 2-10 in the Southern Athletic League.

Bulldogs earn third place finish in Godinez tourney

Turlock High senior Andrew Johnson scored 19 points and grabbed 13 rebounds in helping the Bulldogs to a 57-42 victory over East Union (Manteca) in the third-place game of the 46th Frank Godinez Boys Basketball Tournament on Saturday.

Johnson shot 8-of-16 from the field — 8-of-13 (62 percent) from inside the 3-point arc — and was 3-of-4 from the charity stripe.

Junior Izaak Saenz contributed 10 points for the Bulldogs, while junior Dutch Lawrence chipped in with nine points.

Jeremiah Evans, a junior, added seven rebounds for the Bulldogs, while Saenz and senior Mason Baker had six caroms each.

Turlock (4-2) was on the road Monday to take on Riverbank (5-4).

Venture Academy 57, Golden Valley 49 — Senior Cameron Lowe had 18 points and 18 rebounds to lead the Mustangs to the Godinez championship. In addition, seniors DaeLeon Neal and Mario Williams contributed 16 and 12 points, respectively. 

Neal, and fellow seniors Ray Wiggins and Marcos Rosales had five rebounds each for Venture Academy (10-0), a team that features a roster of 10 seniors and just two juniors.

Oakdale defeated Johansen 51-41 in the fifth-place contest, while Davis bested Modesto 51-56 in the seventh-place game.

— Christopher Correa and Joe Cortez/The Journal