MARIO AGUIRRE | STAFF WRITER
DONNA — Moments after an exhilarating district-opening win Friday, Donna High coach Zeke Rodriguez let out a sigh of relief, saying, “Too many.” As in, the Redskins have been through too many close games for his liking.
It was only two weeks ago that Donna pulled out a one-point triumph over Harlingen South in triple overtime. And on Friday, the Redskins survived yet another close call — in spite of Rodriguez’s technical foul call with one minute left — recording a signature decision of sorts in beating Mercedes 35-34 in both teams’ 32-5A opener.
Donna broke out from a 17-17 halftime hold by keeping Mercedes scoreless for nearly five minutes in the fourth quarter, using a 15-foot jumper from R.J. Arrambide with 26 seconds remaining to put the game away.
“It’s one of those big ones for us to stay in contention for the district title,” Rodriguez said, “because it’s going to be either us or Mercedes that gets it.”
“They’re predicted to be the district champs,” Arrambide added. “And as our coach said, we stole one tonight.”
Arrambide established himself offensively in the second half, scoring 11 of his game-high 13 points after an uneventful start. Donna struggled to get the ball inside to its big man, a point of emphasis in Rodriguez’s halftime talk.
The Redskins (10-10, 1-0), who were giving Arrambide the ball outside the block, found more success when they fed him down low, where he could take a drop step and score. He did that on a couple of instances in the second half, scoring on driving layups.
Arrambide’s aggression, however, cost him an offensive foul late during the fourth quarter, drawing the ire of Rodriguez, who argued the call with officials. With 1 minute left, Rodriguez was called for a technical foul. Mercedes’ Matt Garcia drilled the ensuing free throws, setting Donna back 34-33.
But the Redskins scored the next time down after a missed layup was corralled by Robert Guajardo (eight points) before finding E.J. Guajardo, who kicked it out to Arrambide for a straightaway jumper.
“I just saw the basket and shot it,” Arrambide said. “I did think to drive, but I saw them give me a little bit of space so I let it go.”
Mercedes (13-6, 0-1) entered the game with the best non-district record among 32-5A teams, which is why the Redskins’ victory went a long way in trying to establish positioning in the district standings.
“It’s a good win for us,” Rodriguez said. “We matured a little bit because we were able to get some defensive stops and we were able to take better care of the ball.”
During the preseason, Donna averaged 15 turnovers. On Friday, however, the Redskins coughed up the ball nine times. It was an encouraging sign for Donna, which welcomed Ruben Rivera (fractured tibia), Michael Peña (broken hand) and E.J. Guajardo (sprained MCL) back into the fold.
For their part, the Tigers struggled protecting the ball against Donna’s pressure defense. They failed to score in double figures during the second and third quarters, totaling a combined 13 points during that stretch. And they mustered 10 in the fourth, after nailing a pair of foul shots on Rodriguez’s technical foul.
“I just don’t think we were as patient as we needed to be,” Mercedes coach Eric Steinbrunner said. “We had a hard time executing. We needed to work our offense. I don’t know if we were too excited, but we were shooting too quickly.
“Our goal was to attack the basket as much as we could. I thought once we got to the basket, we made some good decisions. But other times (in the second half) we were a little selfish. For some reason, we couldn’t shoot tonight.”
Garcia was the only double-figure scorer for Tigers, pouring in 10 points. Diego Gobellan, Daniel Gonzalez and Mo Lozano added six points apiece.