By ANDREW CRUM, Staff Writer
Pace’s defense was too much for Lopez.
The Lady Vikings used their pressure defense to their advantage, turning turnovers into points and never trailing in a 66-21 defeat of the Lady Lobos in a non-district game Tuesday at Pace.
“We put that defense in last year and started working on it,” Pace coach Kris Metzmaker said. “That’s what got us through the second half of the season and into the playoffs. We’re trying to sharpen it up and work it back into district and add a couple more presses so we don’t become predictable.”
Pace’s Lexi Arce had a game-high 11 points off the bench, Nadia Mendoza and Kaylynn Quezada had 10 points apiece and the Lady Vikings’ defense finished with 20 steals in the victory.
Metzmaker said Mendoza continues to impress in the young season.
“(Nadia) just won’t be denied, she has just played awesome so far,” Metzmaker said. “She’s our motor, the other kids feed off her. She revs them up and they go.”
The Lady Vikings jumped out to a 5-0 lead and never looked back. Their defense was fierce, and the Lady Lobos had trouble getting into an offensive rhythm. Pace got going offensively because of its defense and led 12-5 after the first quarter.
The Lady Vikings continued to use halfcourt traps and the like on defense and scored some buckets in transition to open the second quarter on a 7-0 run. The Lady Lobos struggled to find good shots and Pace took a 30-11 lead at the break.
The second half was more of the same, as Pace’s defense continued to be overwhelming. Lopez scored four points and had several more turnovers as the Lady Vikings extended their lead to 49-15 after the third quarter.
During the fourth quarter, Pace used a 12-0 run to start and Lopez just didn’t have an answer offensively. The Lady Lobos outscored the Lady Vikings down the stretch, but it was too late to cut into the deficit.
“I don’t want to take anything away from Pace, they did a great job (Tuesday),” Lopez coach Stephen Davis said. “We’re learning a new system, we have some new things we’re installing and we’re focused on Dec. 11, our first district game.
“Everything we’re doing is pointing toward becoming a better basketball team.”
Yadia Mejia led Lopez with eight points and three rebounds, and Susana Pizana had six points and six rebounds.
Valeria Varela had nine points, eight rebounds, and four steals. Ebony Casanova had eight points, five rebounds and three steals, and Jessica Aquilar finished with 11 rebounds for Pace.
As the defense for Pace improves, so will the Lady Vikings’ squad.
“We’re still young, so we’re going to get better and better,” Metzmaker said. “They boxed out a lot better (Tuesday). We’re working on different zones to try to give everybody different looks. It’s working out really well for us.”
Andrew Crum covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him at (956) 982-6629 or via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @andrewmcrum.
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