LA FERIA — You can call it déjà vu or the same song and dance, but there is no disputing that you’ve definitely seen this before.
Thanks to hot shooting from the perimeter and crisp ball movement, the PSJA North Lady Raiders won the Tommie Wiseman Tournament, dismissing the host La Feria Lionettes 58-50 on Saturday afternoon.
The Lady Raiders (14-0) gained separation early on with the three-point shot as their dribble penetration allowed for open shots on the perimeter.
La Feria (6-4) mounted small runs to keep it close, but PSJA North’s timely shooting and quick passing proved to be too much.
“We’ve been working on our passing game and our attack, penetrations, kick outs and we’ve been shooting well,” said Lady Raiders head coach Randy Bocanegra. “We expected that to happen and we’re very fortunate that it did.”
PSJA North sank nine three pointers on the day, with five coming in the first quarter.
North’s Arianna Medrano knocked down two and tournament MVP Belle Palacios hit three, ballooning the Lady Raiders’ first-quarter lead to 11 in a matter of moments.
“We knew they were a good shooting team and we knew (Medrano) and (Palacios) were good shooters,” La Feria head coach Angel Martinez said. “It was difficult to transition with all their shooters. Even when we were in position on defense and they were two feet away from the three-point line, they were still jacking it up.
“It was just one of those games when those shots are falling; it’s going to be a long day.”
Palacios finished the day with 31 points, while Medrano followed with 17.
La Feria trailed 32-20 at half, but stormed out of the locker room and began the third quarter on a 6-0 run to cut the Lady Raiders’ lead to six.
An Alvarado three ended the Lionettes’ run and five straight points from Palacios pushed North’s lead to 15.
“La Feria rallied and then, bam, we hit one,” Bocanegra said. “We took back the momentum. It was just one of those days where we were shooting well.
“La Feria expended energy to make that comeback, but we equalized it with the three-point shot.”
The Lady Raiders led by as many as 20 in the third.
La Feria fought back in the fourth and outscored the Lady Raiders 19-10 led by 14 combined points from Illiana Ayala and Sara Alvarado.
“Our girls fought to the last second and they continued to put pressure and put points on the board,” Martinez said. “It says a lot doing that against PSJA North, who were district champions in 6A last year. For us to play a good game against them makes me proud of the girls heading into district play.”
Ayala finished with 11 points, while Alvarado finished with 14.
Ayala was named to the All-Tournament team along with Annette Ruiz. Medrano and Angela Ochoa got the nod for the Lady Raiders.