By ANDREW CRUM, Staff Writer
After losing its first district game Friday, Brownsville Veterans Memorial wanted to make sure it came out strong.
The Lady Chargers came out of the gate firing and built a quick lead they did not relinquish during a 44-30 victory over the Los Fresnos Lady Falcons in a District 32-6A game Tuesday at Los Fresnos.
Led by five points apiece from Briana Cortez and Hannah Meyers during the first quarter, the Lady Chargers ran out to a 17-5 lead. Cortez finished with 11 points and seven rebounds, and Meyers had 12 points — going 6 of 9 from the free-throw line — and four steals to lead the way for Brownsville Veterans.
“Getting that lead gave us that cushion where we could spread the floor and take advantage with our guards,” Brownsville Veterans coach Valentin Paz said. “Almost everything (we scored) was inside.”
Los Fresnos struggled from the field, scoring just three more points during the first half on a 3-pointer by Emily Pena and to trail 24-8 at halftime.
“We came out flat in the first quarter. We had good looks at the basket, we just didn’t execute well,” Los Fresnos coach Kim Edquist said. “If we would have been able to get some rebounds, we might have been able to compensate. Most of them were good looks at the basket, exactly where we wanted the kids to shoot from. But we took the shot and we missed it. We were watching and not rebounding and that hurt us.”
The Lady Falcons tried to close the gap during the third quarter. Jackie Kingsbury scored all five of her points during the period as the Lady Falcons cut the deficit to 10 points, capped by a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Joseline Caraveo.
The Lady Chargers’ defense was too much in the end, outscoring Los Fresnos 10-6 during the final quarter to finish off a district road victory.
“Today we kept changing our zones to give them different looks, and it was just a matter of defense,” Paz said. “(Maria Rios) came in and with her effort gave us some big minutes, she took a couple of intelligent fouls that stopped them in transition. That set the tone for everyone to keep working hard. It was about defense.”
Edquist thought her team lost the game in the paint.
“I told them, ‘If you take care of the ball and rebound, you’ll have a good chance,’” she said. “We didn’t rebound, and I felt like our rebounding hurt us the most. We were stagnant on offense at the beginning, and it’s always one quarter for us. It seems like it kills us.”
Kelsi McDonough led the Lady Falcons with eight points and seven steals, Kingsbury added six rebounds and a pair of steals and Caraveo finished with five points and 10 rebounds for Los Fresnos (10-13, 3-3).
Krista Lopez came off the bench to score seven points, including a 3-pointer. Jordan Rudd had six points, going 4 of 6 from the charity stripe, to go along with eight rebounds and three assists. Sarah Sandoval added four points and seven rebounds for Brownsville Veterans (18-7, 5-1).
Paz said the first quarter set the tone for the game.
“That lead was important for their confidence,” he said of his players. “For who they are and what they can accomplish.”
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.