By ADAM KUJAWSKI, Staff Writer
The Hanna Golden Eagles capped off an unbeaten tournament run Saturday with a 51-39 win over the Los Fresnos Falcons to secure the BISD Classic championship.
“It feels real good (to win the tournament),” Hanna coach Todd Barkholtz said. “It means the guys have been working hard the past eight months in class, in the offseason, lifting weights and all that good stuff to get better as a team.”
The Eagles jumped out to an early lead and pulled ahead 17-8 near the end of the first quarter. However, Los Fresnos stuck around, scoring seven consecutive points to close the quarter and holding Hanna scoreless until the 6:15 mark of the second period.
The Eagles answered with a 6-2 run but were halted following an ankle injury to point guard Alex Herrera that temporarily removed him from the game with 3:19 remaining in the half.
The Falcons took a 26-23 lead after the injury behind three straight baskets by Hugo De La Cruz and a jumper by Johnny Gomez.
With seconds remaining, Andy Lopez hit a long-range buzzer-beater to send Hanna into halftime tied at 26.
The teams started the second half in similar fashion, but with the score 33-32 in favor of the Falcons, Hanna closed the quarter on a 6-0 run.
The Falcons then broke down during the fourth quarter. With the return of Herrera and contributions from the Eagles’ bench, Hanna made 5 of 10 shots and three free throws to close out Los Fresnos.
“It’s the fourth game (of the tournament),” Barkholtz said. “It’s the championship game, everybody’s tired, you’ve just go to be mentally focused and disciplined to execute offense, defense and everything.
“We told the guys that haven’t logged heavy minutes to come in and provide a spark. We needed those bench players to come in that second half and really just carry us.”
Hanna defeated Pace and St. Joseph Academy in the group stage and knocked off Hidalgo and Los Fresnos to cap the tournament. The Eagles’ average margin of victory was just more than 12 points per game.
Falcons coach Marco Hinojosa wasn’t upset with taking second place, and instead looked at the valuable experience for his team moving forward.
“At the end of the day, Hanna’s well coached and they have an outstanding team that can just flat out shoot the basketball,” he said. “We broke down defensively, but we’ve got to credit Hanna because they do a good job of moving the basketball and they have an elite point guard in the valley.
“I’m glad we played good teams like (McAllen) Rowe, they gave us an excellent game, and Hanna gave us another great game. These games will get us ready for district. We’re happy with what we’re doing right now, but we’ve got room for improvement.”
De La Cruz and Gomes won all tournament honors for the Falcons, and Lopez and Ed Messbarger received the same honors for the Eagles. Hererra was named the tournament’s most valuable player.
“It feels amazing,” Messbarger said. “I want to thank my teammates. Without them I wouldn’t be able to have gotten (the all-tournament trophy).
When asked what it took to win the MVP award, Herrera also credited strong teamwork.
“I started off bad, but my teammates picked me up,” he said. “After that I just started getting in a rhythm and getting good vibes off my team.”
De La Cruz led all scorers with 21 points, Herrera finished with 11 and Messbarger added 10.
Each team will continue their non-district schedule this week. Los Fresnos will play a road game against McAllen Rowe at 7:30 p.m. Monday, and Hanna will travel to PSJA High at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.
Adam Kujawski covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him at (956) 982-6663 or via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @adamkujo1.