By ANDREW CRUM, Staff Writer
CORPUS CHRISTI — For Brownsville Veterans Memorial, the third time against Laredo Alexander in the postseason was supposed to be a charm.
The Lady Chargers, determined to end their playoff losing streak against Laredo Alexander, didn’t find enough offense during the second half and lost 60-49 in a Class 6A area-round playoff game Friday night.
Brownsville Veterans has now had its season ended abruptly by Laredo Alexander during the area round in each of the past three seasons.
“They are a heck of a team,” Brownsville Veterans coach Valentin Paz said. “They’re not district champs for nothing. Not taking anything from Laredo (Alexander), they deserved to win, I just think we shot ourselves in the foot. They made plays, we didn’t. They made stops, we didn’t.”
Briana Cortez led the way with 15 points — nine in the first half — five rebounds and three steals. Hannah Meyers finished with 11 points and five rebounds for the Lady Chargers, who end the season at 29-6.
Brownsville Veterans seemed poised for the challenge at the start of the game, but the Lady Chargers trailed early. A 3 by Valerie Lopez put Laredo Alexander up 6-2. Cortez hit a pair of free throws to cut the deficit, but the Lady Bulldogs went up 10-4 after a 4-0 spurt. The Lady Chargers stormed back, through, as Jordan Rudd scored and Cortez hit a 3 for a 13-12 lead.
During the second quarter, the teams went back and forth. Laredo Alexander took a 21-17 lead after a 4-0 spurt, but Brownsville Veterans answered with back-to-back buckets by Cortez and Meyers. The Lady Bulldogs received a 3 from Marian Avina, but the Lady Chargers answered with a Krista Lopez 3 and the game was tied at 26 at the break.
Rudd, who played limited minutes due to foul trouble, opened the third quarter with a bucket and a free throw to give Brownsville Veterans the lead. Unfortunately for the Lady Chargers, Laredo Alexander’s Dominique Campos got red hot. She had a putback and followed with a 3 to give the Lady Bulldogs a five-point lead. Later, Lopez hit a 3 as the Lady Chargers regained the lead at 39-38. But Campos scored five straight points, including a three-point play, as she poured in 13 points during the quarter to help the Lady Bulldogs take a 45-42 lead.
“We knew Brownsville (Veterans) wasn’t going to be the same team we played (earlier this season),” Laredo Alexander coach Gilberto Cardenas said. “They got after it, had a really good game plan, they were really patient. I think our halfcourt defense made them work a little bit offensively, and they stopped making those big shots that they did in the first half.”
After a Laredo Alexander bucket to start the fourth quarter, Meyers hit a free throw to cut the deficit to four. The Lady Bulldogs surged ahead with a 7-0 run before a Rudd 3 cut the lead to single digits, but Laredo Alexander hit its free throws down the stretch to seal the game.
The Lady Bulldogs forced the Lady Chargers into rushed shots and hit the boards to limit their scoring opportunities.
“I think we decided to commit and play defense a little bit,” Cardenas said. “We talked about that during a timeout, limiting them to one shot. They got a frustrated, and our girls turned it up a little bit. They got after it (on the boards). I think that was a deciding factor for us, the rebounding. That was huge for us.”
Campos led Laredo Alexander with 17 points, including 13 after the break, and MaCayla Munoz finished with a double-double, 15 point and 10 boards.
Paz felt his team hurt itself with mistakes and played different after halftime.
“It’s one thing to make physical mistakes, but it’s another thing when you kill yourself because of mental mistakes,” he said. “We were playing as a team in the first half, the ball was moving, people were cutting, everybody was looking for everybody. We stopped playing as a team in the second half. We became too stagnant (on offense).”
Lopez and Rudd each finished with eight points and combined to grab 14 rebounds, and Bridget Himes had seven points and seven rebounds for the Lady Chargers.
Brownsville Veterans’ coach was disappointed with the loss but also optimistic as several players return next season.
“They’re no rewards for second place,” Paz said. “This is something we have to build on and be prepared for next year. We’re going to miss those seniors, but we have the nucleus to come back (to the postseason). We’re just going to have to work hard.”
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.