PHARR — Both PSJA High and PSJA North came into Round 2 of the basketball edition Tri-City Classic with ample motivation and plenty at stake.
A Monday victory over the No. 11 Edinburg High Bobcats meant PSJA High had a chance to snag District 31-6A’s second seed heading into the postseason, while North — fueled by its Thursday loss in Edinburg — searched for its fourth district win in five days.
In an intense back-and-forth game with a playoff atmosphere that featured seven ties and 10 lead changes, PSJA North’s big three of Trinity Bane, Emma Lucio and Carolina Sanchez delivered again on a big stage combining for 38 points to lead the Raiders to a 50-46 win over the rival Bears on Tuesday night at LBJ Middle School.
“We knew that we had this game, we were just kind of slow in the beginning,” Sanchez said. “I feel like we’ve worked too hard and we deserve it, so our main goal is to keep (winning) deep into the playoffs.”
“This game was highly anticipated and it came down to who made fewer mistakes,” PSJA North head coach Randy Bocanegra said. “We made some clutch free throws down the stretch and we were fortunate that Emma Lucio, Trinity Bane and Carolina Sanchez played big. … We made key plays down the stretch and that’s what helped us.”
Sanchez, North’s senior point guard, and PSJA High junior forward Kaylah Hernandez entered the contest as the top two scorers throughout Hidalgo County, averaging 17.9 and 18.2 points per game, respectively.
They were the focal points of both defenses from the opening tip, which opened up Bane and Lucio to dominate on the offensive end of the floor for the Raiders.
Lucio’s hard-charging drives to the basket got PSJA North off to a hot start in the first half and carried the team at points when outside shots weren’t dropping. The sophomore forward finished with 15 points, five rebounds and three assists.
She combined with Bane, the team’s junior center, to help the Raiders own the interior on both ends of the floor.
“We just knew we had to be smarter down there,” Lucio said. “We knew we were the better team from the beginning.”
“We made it a point in the short amount of prep time that we had to try to slow them down in transition,” Bocanegra said. “Last time we played, we gave up 20 points to them in transition. But tonight, we outrebounded them and our defense helped slow them down.”
Bane’s post-up moves and offensive rebounds gave North several second-chance scoring opportunities, and her tenacious shot-blocking shut down the paint for most of the night on the defensive end, frequently going toe-to-toe with PSJA High’s Hernandez — who finished with 12 points, six rebounds and four blocks — on the low block.
Bane tallied a 19-point, 11-rebound double-double to go along with five blocks, all of which were team highs.
“I’m just used to it,” said Bane, who leads the Valley in blocked shots (81) by a wide margin this season. “I just did what I have to do.”
PSJA High struggled early offensively down low but rode a strong shooting performance from deep and a relentless transition attack to stay in the contest.
Point guard Ileana Martinez and guards Heaven Estrada and Lesly Tinoco combined for a 5-of-13 shooting clip on 3-point attempts that gave the Bears a big edge from beyond the arc.
The Bears’ backcourt trio combined for 31 points on the night also fueled their team’s fastbreak attack, as a Tinoco steal and layup to beat the buzzer gave PSJA High a 22-21 halftime lead.
The Raiders, however, came out of the half firing on all cylinders and began the third quarter on a tear.
“We needed to stop the turnovers. We were playing careless in the beginning,” Sanchez said. “Coach (Bocanegra) told us to slow down and relax because we had the game.”
Sanchez took the role of distributor and floor general in the third and fourth quarter, dishing out assists to Bane, Lucio and the rest of the Raiders to create space and attack the basket.
North’s senior point guard racked up a game-high seven assists and added 10 points after finding her stroke from behind the 3-point line late.
Ultimately, though, the Raiders’ physicality and aggressiveness down low made the difference late, as PSJA North corralled every must-have rebound in the waning moments and scored six of the game’s final seven points from the free-throw line to pull ahead for good.
“We have really good chemistry,” Bane said. “And we work too hard to lose.”
The Bears fall to 19-3 on the season and 12-2 in district play and will wait to face the Weslaco High Panthers in the bi-district round of the Class 6A state playoffs next week.
The win moves the Raiders, who will face either Harlingen South or Los Fresnos in the bi-district round of the 6A playoffs, to 17-3 overall and 11-3 in District 31-6A with a regular-season finale looming at La Joya Juarez-Lincoln at 7 p.m. Thursday.
The victory also marks PSJA North’s seventh win in the last month despite two separate program-wide quarantines due to COVID-19 concerns.
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Twitter: @ByAndyMcCulloch
