RAYMONDVILLE — Raymondville held Hidalgo scoreless during the fourth quarter to come out with a 28-23 win on the opening night for District 32-4A at Raymondville High School.
Raymondville head coach Felix Silva said his team had to make adjustments defensively in the second half and they paid off.
“I am proud at the way they played today, they really got after it,” Silva said.
Bearkats senior point guard Mia Sayas scored important buckets during the final minutes to help power Raymondville at the end of the game. Sayas scored all eight of her points in the second half.
“We knew we had to change the pace of the game,” Sayas said. “We really just had to work on defense and execute on offense.”
The Bearkats’ defense kept the Pirates out of the paint, forcing Hidalgo to make outside shots that did not fall. Raymondville went on a 7-0 run to close out the game after Hidalgo’s Berania Jauregui scored five points, the last of the game for the Pirates, late in the third quarter.
Raymondville came out of the half strong with an 8-0 run spurred by Sayas. The point guard scored four points during the opening minutes of the third quarter.
“Those buckets meant a lot because it gave us some comfort to keep going,” Sayas said.
Adaleigh Knight led the Bearkats in scoring during the first half with 10 of her team’s 13 points. Hidalgo’s Lizbeth Luna and Damaris Rodriguez combined for 13 in the half as the Pirates held a 16-13 lead at the break.
Knight finished the game with 13 points.
The Bearkats were on the outside of the playoffs looking in last season. The Pirates were one of the teams ahead of Raymondville last year.
“The girls are fired up,” Silva said. “They were not happy with their pre-ranking standings. We got picked six, so they wanted to come out and prove a point tonight.”
Raymondville returns to action against La Feria at 6:30 p.m. Friday at La Feria, and Hidalgo is at home at 6:30 p.m. Friday against Grulla.
