BROWNSVILLE — There are not many games left that could potentially trip up Brownsville Veterans from winning a fifth straight District 32-5A title. A meeting with Brownsville Lopez was one of those games on paper.
Brownsville Lopez hung around with Brownsville Veterans, but after the half the Chargers pulled away to win 51-33 Wednesday night in a District 32-5A meeting at Lopez High School.
The Chargers and head coach Arnold Torres understood the importance of this game.
“I am proud of the girls and how they came in, everybody contributed and everyone played well,” Torres said. “Definitely was a team victory today.”
Chargers guard Brianna Brackhahn finished with a game-high 18 points, grabbed rebounds and played strong defensively with key player Daniela Sauceda playing sparingly Wednesday night due to illness.
“I really stepped up. I had more points than usual,” said Brackhahn, who averages seven points a night. “Most of us were feeling sick, so I knew it was an important game to fill that void left from Daniela.”
Brownsville Veterans pulled away in the third quarter, outscoring Brownsville Lopez 18-5 after only being up 20-16 at halftime. Eight different Chargers scored Wednesday night. Junior guard Brianna Barnes was the closest to Brackhahn with nine points.
Sophia Carrizales led Lopez with a team-high 17 points.
The Chargers (27-5, 11-1) host Donna High at 6 p.m. Friday. The Lobos (15-11, 8-4) travel to Mercedes at 6 p.m. Friday.
ST. MARY’S HALL 38, ST. JOSEPH 28
Brownsville St. Joseph faced off with San Antonio St. Mary’s Hall with a chance to move into first place in TAPPS 5A District 4 earlier in the afternoon.
The Bloodhounds lost to the Barons 38-28 but put up a tough fight against a St Mary’s Hall team that had a distinct size advantage with 6-foot-0 post Sedelia Wilson-Larkin.
Brownsville St. Joseph senior standout Regina Tovar finished with a game-high 14 points. The Bloodhounds struggled at times during the second half to generate offense with the Barons playing a tight zone defense.
Brownsville St. Joseph only scored nine points during the second half after only being down 21-19 at halftime.
Bloodhounds freshman Seanah Mireles tied the game at 19 in the second quarter with back-to-back 3-pointers. Mireles scored 10 and did a solid job helping defend Wilson-Larkin, who — along with guard Maddie Florence — led the Barons in scoring with 13 points.
The Bloodhounds (17-8, 4-2) return to action against Laredo Augustine at 4 p.m. Friday in Laredo.
