By ROY HESS
Judging by the result of Monday’s non-conference basketball game at Brownsville Veterans Memorial, the Chargers are quite ready for the start of District 32-6A competition.
The Chargers improved to 18-2 with a decisive 77-32 victory against the Porter Cowboys.
Brownsville Veterans opens 32-6A action at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at home against Hanna.
Chargers coach Larry Gibson is confident his squad is all set for what’s ahead.
“We’ve had a good preseason, and we’re ready for district,” he said. “We play Hanna, a top (district) team, and it’s going to be a good game. The key thing for us was coming out of today’s game with everyone healthy and we did that, so we’re ready to go now come Saturday.”
Porter (6-10) briefly led 2-0, but after that, it was all the Chargers. They were up 16-4 by the end of the opening quarter and held a 38-9 edge at halftime. The Chargers took a 58-20 advantage into the final period.
“I like the way we’re pushing the ball,” Gibson said. “We’re doing a good job of pushing it, and our defense was excellent today. We’re running the court, and that’s the key to this team. We’re getting up and down the court (quickly) so that’s good for us. We’ve been doing pretty good.”
Porter coach Luis Garza had hoped the varsity game wouldn’t turn out like the junior varsity contest, which wound up 73-20 in the Chargers’ favor.
But Brownsville Veterans was just too much for Porter, which opens District 32-5A action at PSJA Southwest at 2:30 p.m. Saturday.
Garza said it didn’t help matters that he didn’t see his players putting forth the kind of effort they needed to give against such a strong team as the Chargers.
“I don’t take anything away from (Brownsville) Veterans because they have a very good team,” the Porter coach said. “But for us, a lot of it had to do with our guys’ (lack of) effort.
“I thought we would either come out competitive or terrible, and unfortunately, it was terrible,” he added. “The moment (early in the game that) we didn’t dive for a loose ball, that set the tone. We didn’t seem to want to win all that bad.
“We have to take it for what it is. Is it disappointing? Yes, it is. Still, I know we’ll get better. We have to.”
A 3-pointer by Brownsville Veterans’ Kevin Gomez with 1:48 left gave the Chargers their biggest lead of 47 points, 77-30.
Aaron Villarreal led all scorers with 15 points for Brownsville Veterans. Teammates Gomez and Alex Marquez added 14 and 13 points, respectively, and Darion Thuku and J.P. Delgado each contributed eight points. Gomez made a pair of 3-pointers, and Marquez had one.
Porter was led by Albert Garza’s 10 points. Joel Gracia and Luis Garza II each added four points, with Garza hitting a 3-pointer.
Roy Hess covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @HessRgehess.