The second half, however, was one they will not soon forget.
After trailing by 13 in the first half, the Warriors outscored the Goliad Tigers 31-13 in the third quarter and never looked back as they punched their ticket to the elite eight with a 73-69 come-from-behind win in Friday night at the Goldie Harris Gym in Seguin.
The Warriors are into the regional finals and will face state-ranked Aransas Pass at 1 p.m. today. AP, who beat Lyford in Tuesday’s regional quarters, beat Universal City Randolph 71-52 on Friday night.
With turnovers and ice-cold shooting plaguing the Warriors in the first half, Goliad took advantage and racked up a double-digit lead early.
Santa Rosa head coach Johnny Cipriano had just one message for the Warriors at the half: Slow down.
“I told the guys at half that we were making these shots all year; you just have to settle down,” he said. “If we’re calm and composed, we’re gonna sink them because that’s what we practiced. It was just a matter of sinking that first one. Sure enough, that first one goes in and there we go.”
In the first half, Santa Rosa trailed by as many as 15 points and sank just four shots from the field, but a 14-2 run sparked by back-to-back threes from senior Andrew Ramirez got the Warriors out of their shooting rut.
“This is my fourth year on varsity and I’ve never had a team this close; I just love this and I’ll do anything for them,” Ramirez said. “Other teams wish for it, but we work for it. Coach tells us that it’s not over until the buzzer sounds. We really wanted it and because of that, we won.”
Friday marked the second game in a row where roles players helped keep the Warriors in the driver’s seat.
In Tuesday’s regional quarterfinal win, senior Manny Sanchez dropped in 14-points to help the Warriors run past Falfurrias and on Friday Ramirez injected life into the Warriors.
“Those two are seniors and they have been there and that makes a big difference,” Cipriano said. “I tell them that their time will come and they have to give me their all for three of four minutes, and that’s what they did and they did it really well.”
The triples opened the door for junior Leo Lara and sophomore AB Losoya, who combined for 34 second-half points.
Five quick points by Lara put the Warriors ahead for good with two minutes left in the third.
Midway through the fourth quarter, Santa Rosa went up by 10 after Losoya knocked in two of his eight fourth-quarter free throws.
By that time, the Warriors tried to ice the game away at the line, but Goliad did not go quietly.
As a pair of Lara free throws put the Warriors up 69-61, Tiger guard Tango Johnson hit three straight free throws after being fouled and then took a Warriors turnover, and knocked down a quick straightaway three to cut the Warriors lead to two with under a minute to play.
It just wouldn’t be enough and the Warriors continued to hit from the stripe.
Lara ended the game with 24 to lead Santa Rosa and Losoya followed with 23, including 12 in the fourth with eight coming at the line as the Warriors began to try and salt the game away.
Ramirez added nine points on the evening.
Now, Lara hopes the Warriors’ momentum can carry into today’s regional final.
“We’re in the elite eight and that’s what we wanted, and hopefully we can get one more and go to the state tournament; that’ll be a dream come true,” Lara said.