LA FERIA — Down 16-8 at the half against Mercedes, La Feria Lionettes head coach Angel Martinez told his girls one very simple but inspiring phrase the team needed to hear: We are still within striking distance.
After scoring just two points in the entire second period, the Lionettes came out in the third and responded with an impressive 12-1 run to take a thrilling 26-23 victory over Mercedes in the semifinals of the Tommie Wiseman girls basketball tournament Friday at La Feria High School.
With the victory, the Lionettes advanced to their seventh consecutive Wiseman championship and their third straight against a tough PSJA North team that cruised its way into the finals with a 45-28 semifinal win over Rio Hondo.
“We’ve always been a good defensive team and we pride ourselves on that,” said Martinez. “We are not the biggest team and we’re definitely not the fastest team so we have to do the little things correctly. Mercedes had some really tall girls with Mika Vento and I knew that was going to pose a challenge for us so we had to stay disciplined on defense, and I felt if we did we stood a chance.
“Offensively we haven’t gotten on a rhythm yet but I’m hoping by district time our girls are hitting on all cylinders, but I’ll take great defense and a win anytime.”
One offensive weapon that got going at just the right time for La Feria was senior Myah Salas. After being shut down in the first half, Salas scored all of her 12 points in the second half of the contest.
“Myah is a very talented player and obviously a very good basketball player,” said Martinez. “But the scary part is that Myah hasn’t come out yet. She’s doing well for us offensively, but when she starts really getting into her grove and knocking down that outside shot she is going to get even better and that’s going to make us tough to beat.”
For Mercedes it was a tale of an all-too-familiar feeling. After struggling with the Lionettes’ defensive pressure in the third quarter, the Lady Tigers brought the game to within one point but could not come up with any last-second heroics. Mika Vento finished the game with nine points while Sol Cruz and Roselyn Rodriguez added four a piece.
“Today they (La Feria) pressed a little better and we struggled with it, and could not get any shots off,” said Mercedes head coach SantiagoRivas. “La Feria did a good job. They adjusted and we had a hard time fixing it. We tried going man to man, but it didn’t work out and we just got tired.”
La Feria will take on PSJA North in the title game at noon. The Tigers will take on Rio Hondo in the third-place match at noon today.
