The Brownsville Veterans Memorial and Brownsville Pace basketball programs split a doubleheader Monday.
The first game was controlled throughout by the hosting Brownsville Veterans Lady Chargers, ranked No. 16 in Class 5A by the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches and No. 23 by the Texas Girls Coaches Association. The Lady Chargers clinched the District 32-5A championship and maintained their undefeated district season with a 56-30 victory over the Lady Vikings.
“I’m really happy for them because of all the hard work we put in,” Lady Chargers coach Arnold Torres said. “Considering everything that’s going on, it was a blessing for them to be able to play, so being able to achieve the goals we set is just another blessing. I think we’re at the right spot, peaking at the right time, and as we’re going through they’re getting more confidence every game, and that’s always a plus.”
The Lady Chargers took a 14-point lead almost halfway through the second, but Ashley Gonzalez (12 points) willed her Lady Vikings back into the game. She scored six straight points — first on a 3-pointer, then by finishing a 3-point play at the charity stripe — and stopped Brownsville Veterans on consecutive possessions with her defensive savvy. Gonzalez matched the 10 points the Lady Chargers scored on her own.
Bry Buitureira (16) and Caite Esquivel (21) went to work in the third quarter to put the Lady Chargers comfortably ahead. Juju Alvarez was the key to a good defensive first half for Brownsville Veterans, and she turned up her pressure in the second half.
After showing her skills by swiping steals as Pace tried swinging the ball around to create offensive looks at the top of the setup, Alvarez was assigned to stop Gonzalez. She held Pace’s leader scoreless during the second half, which made the Lady Vikings’ offensive production suffer. Pace didn’t reach double-digit points in either of the last two quarters.
With the lead up to 41-22 heading to the fourth quarter, Brownsville Veterans let its bench players shine. The bench and Lady Chargers faithful erupted when Annie Cisneros and Kassy Garcia scored as the team poured it on before celebrating their district championship.
“It doesn’t matter who’s in at the time, we have to make sure we’re a team and we’re cheering and supporting everybody, so to be able to see that, it makes me feel good as a coach to know we’re doing something right,” Torres said.
The night’s action was capped by a contest that was closer than the score may indicate. Brownsville Pace earned a hard-fought 61-48 win over Brownsville Veterans Memorial in a game that ended after a brief scuffle and an ejection for each team.
“It’s unfortunate it ended the way it did, but it’s just two passionate teams getting after it,” Pace coach Jose Luis Ramirez said. “It happens, but the good thing is no punches were thrown. We’ll just learn from it and move forward.”
Pace’s explosive 3-point shooting put the Vikings on top early, and they maintained their lead for the whole contest. The Vikings hit five 3-pointers during the opening frame and eight overall. Alex Agado (16 points) made four from behind the arc and Dax Delgado (10) made three.
Benny Villarreal played a big second quarter offensively and defensively to help open Pace’s lead to 40-22 at halftime. He cleaned up on the boards and blocked shots as he scored nine of his 17 points in the frame.
The second half was all about the two defenses. Neither team shot particularly well during the third quarter, but the Vikings still held a comfortable 24-point lead. Brownsville Veterans’ defense gave life back to the Chargers in the fourth. They held Pace scoreless for four and a half minutes as they went on a 10-0 scoring run to trim the deficit.
“Contrary to popular belief, it’s harder to play with a lead than when you’re down, because when you’re down you really have nothing to lose and there’s more urgency,” Ramirez said. “The bottom line is, this group is very experienced, so they don’t get rattled very easily. They’re able to handle that type of situation.”
Andrew Echaverria and a trio of Castanedas brought a ton of energy to the court to amp up the Chargers’ crowd. Echaverria’s speed led a defensive effort that Pablo and Gerry Castaneda (14) contributed to in order to keep the Vikings at bay. Rodrigo Castaneda (10) scored six points and Matt Maddox (13) added nine in the quarter to help the Chargers get within 10 points with less than two minutes remaining.
The game’s physicality picked up during the final minutes as the Chargers continued to fight and the Vikings hustled to hold on. The passion displayed by both teams resulted in words and shoves being heatedly exchanged. The teams let the final 30 seconds run out without issue to settle the matter.
“I hate what happened at the end. It was just the emotion. Our kids fought hard, their kids fought hard, best team won tonight and it’s water under the bridge,” Chargers coach Larry Gibson said. “I think we just showed some heart (in the fourth). I put a group of kids in there that wanted to keep playing hard and they didn’t quit. Pace has got a hell of a team, I think they’ve got the best team in the Valley. But we did not quit, and I’m proud of my kids for that.”
