FALFURRIAS — The McAllen High Bulldogs trailed the Corpus Christi Flour Bluff Hornets by 10 points, eight and three at the end of each of the first three quarters of their Region IV-5A quarterfinal Tuesday at Falfurrias Junior High.
After the final eight minutes, however, the Bulldogs finished the postseason fight with their hand raised in a 42-38 victory. McHi (32-8, 12-2) is back in the sweet 16 for the second consecutive season and will face Boerne-Champion in the regional semifinals at 5:30 p.m. Friday at Littleton Gym in San Antonio.
“Flour Bluff did a great job the first half controlling the tempo and doing what they wanted on offense. Our kids were a little bit down at halftime, but we made some defensive adjustments,” McHi head coach Ryan Flores said. “We told them we have to pick up the intensity, pick up the energy. Let’s push them a little bit like they’ve been pushing us. I think we picked up the intensity and Flour Bluff didn’t really bounce back.”
The Bulldogs’ comeback came to life midway through the third quarter.
Junior post Kaharie Loggins, who helped the Bulldogs reach the regional finals last season, made his 2021-22 debut after transferring back to McHi from school in Chicago in January.
He made an instant impact as his athleticism and length created problems for Flour Bluff inside, the same place they took advantage of the Bulldogs during the first half.
“It’s showtime,” Loggins said to himself upon entering the game. “They were down so I wanted to come into the game, turn it up, give us the lead and go from there. I’m a defensive player; all I do is play defense, so I got a whole bunch of steals, a whole bunch of blocks. It turned our defense into offense and we started scoring and getting layups.”
Loggins finished with five points, six rebounds, three blocks, two steals and one assist.
“He brought an awesome spark off the bench and I was glad he was able to contribute today,” Flores said.
McHi began winning 50-50 balls and inching closer on the scoreboard but faced another form of adversity. Junior point guard Darren Manriquez suffered an ankle injury and was forced to sit out. Junior point guard Erasmo Alvardo stepped up in Manriquez’s place, converted a three-point play and came away with a key steal to help the Bulldogs continue to build momentum.
“Erasmo comes off the bench and he has to be ready when his name is called and he showed up today. Those three points kind of set the tempo for our run in the second half,” Flores said.
During the fourth, Manriquez found senior Robert Canul in the left corner for a 3 to tie the game at 37.
Loggins gave the Bulldogs a 39-37 lead with a bucket in the paint. McHi and Flour Bluff exchanged free throws to create a 40-38 score, but the Bulldogs grabbed a rebound off a missed Hornets 3-pointer, pushed the ball down court as Jaylon Chappell hit his twin Jordon Chappell for a layup for the final margin.
Robert Canul led the Bulldogs with 14 points, Danny Canul added 11 points with three 3-pointers.
“These guys practice so hard for me. I ask a lot of them, the expectations for McHi basketball are very high and they step up every time in practice, every time in games,” Flores said. “We got stung in the first half, but it shows you what type of players these kids are, what type of team this team is — to be reluctant, to fight back and to get back into the dog fight and win the game.”
