Coyotes enjoy most wins in 15 years

Well, that didn't take long. 

In only his second season at the helm, head coach Chris Lewis led the Weatherford College Coyotes to one of the best seasons in the program's history. The Coyotes finished 23-8 overall, were among the national rankings for part of the season and advanced to the NJCAA Region V Tournament, getting a 65-62 win over No. 18 Clarendon before bowing out with a loss to top-seeded Ranger. 

It was the Coyotes' first appearance at the regional tournament in eight years. Their 23 wins were the most in 15 seasons. 

"It's a credit to the work that the guys put in all year and staying together when adversity hit us throughout the season," Lewis said. "We started this year with certain goals that we wanted to accomplish, and while we may not have hit all of them, we had that mindset of doing something that hasn't been done around here for a while." 

And they did just that, starting the season 6-0 and never looking back. The Coyotes never lost more than one game without bouncing back with a victory, in other words, no losing streaks, all season. 

"I think having a larger group of sophomores (eight) with experience at the collegiate level helped with understanding the sense of urgency we needed because all those guys are working to get an opportunity at the next level. We also had a group of freshmen (five) that came in and really grew up quickly. They were not only big contributors to this year's team but guys that we will be counting on as leaders going into next year.  

"We have established the foundation of what we want to be as a program and making Weatherford known on the national stage. Now, we have to find those kids that will help us elevate to an even higher level. That's the fun and stressful part about recruiting. I have high expectations for this program moving forward." 

Recapping the Coyotes 

• Record: 23-8 

• Conference record: 8-5, third in the Northern Texas Junior College Athletic Conference 

• Region V Tournament record: 1-1 

• Home record: 13-3 

• Road record: 9-3 

• Neutral record: 1-2 

• Longest win streak: 6 (started season 6-0 

• Longest loss streak: Never more than 1 

• Largest margin of victory: 115-45 over DFW Prep 

• Scored more than 100 points: 6 times 

• Record in games decided by five points or less: 3-3. 

• Roster: 5 freshmen, 8 sophomores 

Individual leaders 

• Scoring: Joey Madimba, soph., 18.9; Rodney Johnson, soph., 14.3 

• Rebounds: Johnson, 8.3; Ramondo Battle, 6.1 

• Assists: C.J. Evans, fr., 4.3; Jaden Rogers, soph., 3.2; Wayne Wiggins, fr., 3.0 

• Steals: Wiggins, 1.8; Madimba, 1.6; Evans, 1.5. 

• Blocks: Johnson, 1.2; Battle, 1.1 

• Field goal percentage (minimum 15 games): Kenyan Russell, soph., 58.2; Johnson, 55.5; Evans, 55.0 

• Three-point percentage (minimum 15 games): Alex Daniels, soph., 40.2; Evans, 40.0; Rogers, 39.3 

• Free throw percentage (minimum 15 games): Daniels, 85.0; Rogers, 83.6; Johnson, 80.7