HANFORD -- Things were certainly taking a turn for the worse. But you couldn't tell on the faces of the Hanford West High boys basketball players.

"Most years, we couldn't fight through adversity like this," Hanford West coach Tim Caudillo said of having two key players fouling out in the fourth quarter with his team trailing.

But this year's Huskies showed they can, rallying with under a minute to play to knock off Central Section Division IV powerhouse San Joaquin Memorial 64-59 on Day 2 of the second annual Kings County Classic.

"We didn't quit, we played hard and the crowd was on our side," Hanford West's Erik Munoz said.

Jeff Martin knocked down a key 3-point bucket to give the Huskies a 60-59 lead and that sent the Panthers (1-1) back on their heels.

"We talked about it before the game, that we wanted to see how they were going to play if they were down," Caudillo said. "And they played exactly how we thought they would."

It almost seemed as if San Joaquin Memorial couldn't keep up with the frantic pace the Huskies sent in motion the last minute of the game.

"We were intense on defense and going for steals," Munoz said.

The biggest gamble coming by way of Munoz after Scooter Coleman knocked down one of two free throws after pulling down a rebound after Mike Palmieri missed a 3-point shot.

Munoz stepped in front on an inbound pass and scored on an uncontested layup to give the Huskies (3-0) a 63-59 lead with 21 seconds to play.

"We got really pumped up after Jeff made that three and then I was able to get that steal," Munoz said. "I knew exactly what he was going to do, because they had been running the same inbound play all game."

Bryce Martinho missed a wild 3-point shot on the other end of the floor and Coleman pulled down his eighth and final rebound of the contest. Coleman made one of two free throws to ice the game and time expired on the Panthers.

"We have a lot of seniors on this team and any one of us can step up," Coleman said of a unit that carries nine 12th-graders. "San Joaquin Memorial was very physical. I couldn't even get the ball in the first half, but I had to find a way in the second half."

The Huskies' frantic comeback came minutes after point guard and inspirational leader Roy Ramirez fouled out of the game with a technical foul.

"It was tough after Roy fouled out. The technical was also bad, but we were able to recover," Coleman said. "We knew we had to step up with him and Warren (Moon) out of the game."

Moon fouled out with 3:06 to play on a charge and then with 1:49 to go Ramirez was whistled for a technical foul after arguing a call with an official.

Martinho made one of two free throws to put the Panthers up 58-56 and then with 1:32 to go made one of two free throws again for a 59-56 lead.

"We are the type of team now that is going to fight to the end," Caudillo said. "Jeff made a big shot and after that I felt pretty good about things."

Ramirez left the contest with a game-high 16 points. He also chipped in five rebounds, two assists and three steals. Coleman added 13 points, Martin had 11 and Moon tallied 10.

The Panthers led 32-30 at the half and the game was tied 46-46 entering the fourth quarter.

"I told the team at half that we had to battle," Caudillo said. "I told them that it was going to take a lot better effort on Memorial's part in the second half to beat us, because we weren't going away."

Rodny Mendes led the Panthers with 15 points and 17 rebounds.

Lemoore 73, Tulare Union 45

At Lemoore High, 10 players scored for the Tigers, who roared to a 40-23 lead in the first half and improved to 2-1 and 2-0 in the tournament.

D'Andre Covin led Lemoore with 12 points and Cheyanne Alcala scored 10.

Covin scored eight points in the first quarter and Jerico Halog came through with six big second quarter points to help Lemoore build a big lead.

Tulare Union fell to 1-1 on the season.

The Redskins' Jordan Searby tallied 13 points and Jorge Gonzalez added nine.

Fresno 56, Sanger 51

At Hanford West, Jordan Jackson pumped in 21 points and Fernando Navarrete added 12 points, all in the second half to lead the Warriors (1-2) over the Apaches (0-3).

Sanger led 31-24 at the half, but was outscored 20-11 in the third period.

Kevin Wu led Sanger with 18 points and Nikko Motta added 14.

Reedley 41, Sunnyside 34

At Lemoore High, Reedley evened its season record to 1-1 by utilizing a balanced attack.

The Pirates had nine of their 11-player roster score and broke the game open in the third period, outscoring the Wildcats 21-5.

Youri Decker and Jared Hixon led Reedley with seven points apiece.

Sunnyside (1-2) was led by Joseph Roman with 15 points.

The reporter can be reached at 583-2431.