ALICE — McAllen Rowe trailed Victoria West by six points at halftime of its Region IV-5A quarterfinals matchup Saturday at Alice High School.
That was as close as the Warriors got, however, as Victoria West used a third-quarter barrage of 3-pointers to claim a 70-40 win and advance to the Sweet 16.
“I thought we were playing well in the first half. We just continued to miss layups. If we made our layups we would be more calm, and I thought we were a little nervous,” Rowe head coach Jose Luis Yebra said. “In the second half, they came out playing some good defense. We turned the ball over and we just didn’t score and they started hitting their shots. You have to give them credit. They’re a great team and they beat us pretty good. Our kids just didn’t make shots when we needed to and I thought that was the difference.”
Rowe (23-6, 12-2) battled back and forth against West during the first half as Darren Manriquez scored 10 of his team-high 14 points.
Coming out of the locker room was a different story, though, as Victoria West put together a 26-point third quarter, hitting six 3-pointers in the process. While the West Warriors were shooting red-hot, the Rowe Warriors began to struggle.
Rowe, with only nine players in uniform, ran out of steam late, scoring just 10 points during the third quarter and nine during the fourth.
Victoria West’s Kevin Rankin was lights out, scoring a game-high 30. La’Trell Barfield also chipped in 14 for West.
Manriquez finished with 14 points, three assists, two steals and one block. Pat Tarbutton added seven points and two rebounds, while post Elijah Alcantar scored six points to go with three blocks for Rowe.
While the Warriors’ season is over in the regional quarterfinals for the second straight year, four of their five starters will be back next year looking to improve off their regional quarterfinal loss.
“It’s a great learning experience, especially when you know what you’re going to face when you get out of the Valley,” Yebra said. “We’re going to have to learn from this, prepare and get better. This experience will help us out to know what to expect in the playoffs.”
Victoria West moves on to the Region IV-5A semifinals to face Leander Glenn.
