While the Warriors threatened, they couldn’t sustain any momentum as they fell to the Jerseys 54-41 Tuesday night in a Class 3A regional quarterfinal at Sharyland High School.
Santa Rosa came back from two large deficits in the second half with a pair of runs. A 7-0 run midway through the third brought the Warriors within three and a 10-3 spurt tied the game in the early fourth quarter.
However, it wasn’t meant to be as the Warriors were cold from the field and missed easy layups on multiple occasions.
The Warriors forced turnovers on defense, but couldn’t convert on the other end of the floor.
“We gave Santa Rosa six or eight points in the first half, but we knew we had to take care of the ball when we had it,” Falfurrias coach Edmund Perez said. “We knew Leo Lara was a heck of a player and we knew we had to stop him or he was going to light it up. Both teams played hard and got at it, but we’re moving on.”
Lara scored just nine points on the night and the Warriors had just one player in double figures, which was AB Lozoya with 14 points.
The Warriors came out swinging in the first four minutes of the game, taking a quick 13-7 lead, but the Jerseys slowed the game down.
As a result, the Warriors fast-break opportunities were few and the scoring was kept to a minimum, giving Falfurrias the advantage.
“It looked like the tempos was in our favor the first four minutes of the game, but it switched,” Santa Rosa ahead coach Johnny Cipriano said.
“I told the guys we had to get the score into the 60s to win. If we stay in the 30s or 40s it’s (Falfurrias’) style. We were still in the game, but we missed key shots and free throws. Layups and free throws will cost us every time. We were tight and on the break, but we’d miss a layup and threw the ball away three straight times.”
Tuesday night’s loss will mark the second straight year the Warriors were eliminated in the regional quarterfinals.
This season the Warriors won their 11th straight district crown and went undefeated in District 32-3A.
They will also lose three seniors, but retain sophomores Lara, Matt Garcia, Michael Ruiz and freshman Lozoya.
While the Warriors look to make another run next season, Cipriano doesn’t want to look too far ahead.
“I really don’t like talking about the future, because you never know what it holds,” he said. “We have to work harder. We are young and I tried my hardest to be hard on them while still teaching. It’s difficult because they’re learning the game. I’m proud of what they’ve accomplished, but I was till hoping to take this group to regionals. Unfortunately we weren’t able to do that.”
Falfurrias took control after ending the first quarter on a 7-0 run and never trailed after that.
After taking a 24-18 lead into the locker room, the Jerseys made a pair of quick baskets to go ahead 28-18, but a Lozoya three and a pair of Lara makes brought the Warriors within three.
Fal pushed the lead back up and the Warriors tied it up at 37-37 early in the fourth.
Unfortunately for the Warriors, easy misses underneath and troubles at the line deflated their sails.
Santa Rosa went 5 of 13 from the line in the second half.
Falfurrias’ Jake Reyes led all scorers with 22 while Christian Perez added 18.