McALLEN — Monday’s game against McAllen Memorial did not start the way Audry Hornaday envisioned.
The Sharyland Pioneer senior came into the District 31-5A tilt against the Mustangs after dropping 25 and 18 points in a pair of back-to-back games Saturday for the Diamondbacks, but entered the fourth quarter without a made shot from the floor against Memorial.
With her team leading by five points and 2 minutes to go in the game, Hornaday flipped a switch.
The Diamondbacks’ star forward found her rhythm and scored the team’s final eight points without a miss from the floor or free-throw line, as she and sister Carly Hornaday led Sharyland Pioneer — the 21st-ranked Class 5A team in the Texas Girls Coaches Association poll — to a 46-39 win over district rival McAllen Memorial to inch one step closer toward a district title.
“Memorial is a great team. They have a great coach and a great group of players, and it was really awesome to pull ahead and get this win,” Audry Hornaday said. “My shots weren’t falling, so I knew I had to do something else. I tried to do everything I could on defense and then my shots started falling, so I had to cut to get open. Jordan (Bravo) found me a whole bunch of times and it felt really good helping my team push ahead in the end.”
“She’s a top-notch player. She has been since her freshman year,” Sharyland Pioneer head coach Nicole Villarreal said. “With her missing out last year (due to injury) and watching every game from the bench, she became a better player because she was learning.”
The night ended with a signature performance for Hornaday, who finished with 10 points, seven rebounds and a team-high six steals to go along with a 4-of-4 shooting clip from the free-throw line.
The Diamondbacks’ senior forward said it was words of encouragement she received from one of the Rio Grande Valley’s other senior standouts on the hardwood, PSJA North’s Carolina Sanchez, that fueled her to keep pushing even when shots weren’t falling.
“I’ve talked to a lot of coaches and a lot of players,” Hornaday said. “I asked Caro Sanchez — who dropped 36 points in her last game — I asked her, ‘What’s your secret?’ She said, ‘I shoot. Even if I miss, I shoot.’ That’s the mentality I had out here.”
Her strong finish helped bookend a strong start for the Hornaday sisters and Pioneer that began on the defensive end.
After McAllen Memorial took an early three-point lead in the opening minutes of the contest, both Hornaday sisters fueled a ferocious 10-0 run for the Diamondbacks that featured several defensive takeaways, blocks and steals that kept them ahead for the remainder of the first half.
Carly Hornaday, Pioneer’s 6-foot-4 starting center, shined on both ends of the floor finishing with a game-high 13 points on an efficient 5-of-7 shooting and tallied team highs in both rebounds (eight) and blocks (three).
That dominance on the interior freed up her sister, point guard Natalie Reyes and forward Jordan Bravo to play the passing lanes and keep the Mustangs’ offense out of sync for most of the game.
“They’re the Hornaday sisters, what else can you say? We’re very blessed to have them,” Villarreal said. “I’m very proud of the way Carly came back. We rested her a little bit Saturday, and she came back ready to go.”
“(Carly) came in clutch for us. We really needed her out there and it showed in these last two games,” Hornaday said of her sister. “It was awesome to have her back out there and she helped us tremendously.”
Memorial battled back to make it a one-point game at halftime and again at the end of the third quarter. The hard-charging Mustangs were able to make it a close contest late thanks in large part to the work of senior point guard Cori Talamantez, who finished with 10 points and a game-high nine assists, and forward Denae Moreno, who scored 10 off the bench.
Pioneer, however, had a counter for every Mustangs run and sealed the deal late on 13-of-14 shooting from the charity stripe to move to 11-0 in district play and pick up its fourth win in five days, while Memorial fell to 6-4 in district play and remains in fourth place in the district.
The Mustangs will play four games in the next five days beginning with a trip to Sharyland High at 6:30 tonight with hopes of securing a playoff berth, while the Diamondbacks will play three straight games starting Wednesday at Valley View looking to wrap up the District 31-5A title.
“We’re pushing through. We’ve had a lot of players ready to step up,” Hornaday said. “Even in practice, we stretch out and we’ve had players bring (foam) rollers and a massaging gun. We’re doing anything we can to make sure that our bodies are ready to play some tough teams.”
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Twitter: @ByAndyMcCulloch
