MISSION — Sharyland Pioneer put together one of its best performances of the season Friday night as the Diamondbacks rode their defense to a 55-43 victory over McAllen Memorial at Pioneer High School.
“That’s the best we’ve played the entire year. We preach defense, defense, defense and they came through,” Sharyland Pioneer head coach Rene Gonzalez said. “Coach (Alexis) Peña and coach (Fernando) Rodriguez, they put the plan together this week after looking at film and they did a heck of a job.”
The Diamondbacks had their best defensive performance of the game during the fourth quarter, limiting Memorial to just eight points over the final eight minutes.
It was a complete team effort as the Diamondbacks managed to hold the Mustangs’ leading scorer, Chino Elizondo (21.7 points per game), to just 12 points.
“He’s a great player and we were worried about him coming in. I know one game he scored 40 points, so we just told our guys we can’t let him go off,” Gonzalez said. “He’s a tough kid and one of the best players in our district.”
The Mustangs managed to make it a three-point game to start the fourth quarter, but Pioneer’s young group rallied to push the lead to double digits midway through the period.
“That’s how they learn. Losing nine seniors last year and bringing a couple kids back, they’ve got to learn on the fly,” Gonzalez said. “We’ve thrown them into the fire and they did a fantastic job and responded. They were level-headed. We called a timeout to make an adjustment and we got the victory.”
Leading the way for Pioneer was Seth Rodriguez with a game-high 16 points. Jose Ortiz added 13 points and Miguel Angel Gonzalez had 11.
Elizondo’s 12 led the Mustangs, while Jalen Muhammad was second on the team with seven points.
Pioneer improved to 10-4 overall and 8-2 in District 31-5A. The Diamondbacks victory also keeps them in contention for the 31-5A title, one game back in the loss column behind both McAllen Rowe and McAllen High.
“We have to continue improving. We have Sharyland, PSJA Southwest, and then back-to-back games against McHi and Rowe,” Gonzalez said. “They’re (McHi, Rowe) the leaders in district and we want a piece of the pie too. We’re up to the challenge and these next four games are going to make us better with experience.”
Sharyland Pioneer is now faced with a quick turnaround with a rivalry game against Sharyland High scheduled for 6 p.m. today at Pioneer High School. Meanwhile, the Mustangs will have a week off before playing crosstown rival McAllen High at 2 p.m. Saturday at Memorial High School.
