By ADAM KUJAWSKI, Staff Writer
The Brownsville Veterans Memorial Lady Chargers used consistent scoring to earn a 60-33 District 32-6A win over the Hanna Lady Golden Eagles on Friday night at Hanna.
The Lady Chargers started strong and began scoring at will early. They set the tone with 15 points in less than three minutes and, in an attempt to stop the point surge, Hanna coach Luis Gonzalez called a timeout.
The stoppage worked, and Brownsville Veterans scored only four more points the rest of the first quarter. However, the Lady Eagles were unable to put points on the board and amassed just five points the entire quarter, a theme that would continue the rest of the night.
“We came out on fire,” Brownsville Veterans coach Valentin Paz said. “And the defense was great in the first quarter.”
Hanna attempted a comeback and came out strong during the early part of the second quarter, outscoring the Lady Chargers 9-5 in just less than five minutes. But Paz called a timeout and the Lady Eagles were held scoreless the remainder of the half.
“(Brownsville Veterans) came out and they shot the ball extremely well,” Gonzalez said. “Defensively, we weren’t moving in our areas, we were a little bit slow tonight. They were aggressive on both sides of the court, and that kind of hurt us.”
The Lady Chargers ended up with nine second-quarter points to carry a 28-14 lead into halftime.
The Lady Eagles ended a more than four-minute scoring drought upon scoring their first points of the second half with 6:05 remaining in the third, and they kept pace with Brownsville Veterans for the first half of the quarter.
But once the 3:25 mark passed, Hanna failed to score for the remainder of the period and again was held scoreless for more than four minutes between the third and fourth.
“I was proud the way they played defensively the second half,” Paz said. “We play a lot of different styles, and I was proud of the fact that they went out and played straight up man to man and were able to hold their ground. I liked their intensity.”
The Lady Chargers continued to apply pressure and solidified the rout after a 15-point fourth.
“There’s 11 games left in district,” Gonzalez said. “We still have a lot of basketball left. Tonight was not our best performance, but we’ve just got to get back to it and get ready for our next district game.”
Brianna Cortez scored 19 points and Krista Lopez added 13 to lead the Lady Chargers. Alicia Chavez led the Hanna effort with 19 points.
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.