By JOSHUA McKINNEY, Staff Writer
The long ball reigned supreme for Pace on Friday and sparked Pace’s offense in a physical game.
Pace beat PSJA Southwest 69-60 in District 32-5A showdown and continue its dominance before a Tuesday night matchup with the district’s other unbeaten team.
The Vikings made 11 3-pointers in the game, including nine during the first half.
“Overall, I’m happy with the performance of the kids,” Pace coach Jose Luis Ramirez said. “They stepped up and made a bunch of shots, and that’s what we needed to do. (PSJA Southwest is) a tough team. They’re not too shabby. We’re lucky to get this game, and we’ve got to keep working.”
Luis Rodriguez was king of the 3, kick-starting Pace’s offense from the get-go with a 3 for 4 mark from the downtown in the first quarter, and finished with five 3s.
Practice makes perfect, Rodriguez said, and the Vikings were pretty close to it Friday night.
“It’s just practice,” he said. “Staying after practice and shooting around the machine. Practicing with my teammates is what helps me get good.”
Rodriguez ended the game with 16 points, eight rebounds, four assists and four steals.
Steven Garza led Pace with 17 points and five rebounds. Andres Salgado scored 13 points, had six assists and four steals.
Nygui Anderson scored a team-high 15 points for PSJA Southwest and also led with seven rebounds. Darren Estrada scored 11 points from the free-throw line, and Oscar Garay scored 10 points and grabbed five rebounds.
Rodriguez’s shooting gave Pace a 10-4 lead early in the first. Omar Jimenez and Brian Sifuentes responded with back-to-back buckets to pull PSJA Southwest within two.
From that point, Pace’s offense dominated the rest of the quarter and ended it on a 13-2 run heading into the second quarter.
It wasn’t all sharpshooting for Pace, as the Vikings also had multiple steals in the first quarter and ended the game with 14.
“Keeping the pressure on, for us defensively (was key early),” Ramirez said. “Keeping the pressure on them so they get out of their comfort zone and take bad shots. They’re feisty, and they don’t quit. They make you work for everything you got. They got a lot of offensive boards, some putbacks and free throws down the stretch, so that kept them close. But I think we did what we could to control the game and managed to have control of the game throughout four quarters.”
PSJA Southwest scored five straight points at the start of the second quarter, but Pace went on a 12-2 run to extend the lead by 14 points.
PSJA Southwest started the third quarter down 40-26 but cut the lead to eight by shooting 8 for 13 from the free-throw line in the third.
But the Javelinas did not came closer to the lead during the second half.
“It was tough, but our kids bounced back,” PSJA Southwest coach Abel Estrada said. “At one point we were down by four and they pushed away. They were a great team.”
The fourth quarter had rough play from both sides, including three technical fouls by Pace. PSJA Southwest made nine of its 12 shots from the free-throw line in the quarter and finished the game shooting 22 for 31 from the charity stripe.
“It’s a shame that it comes to that, but (when you have) 15- and 16-year-olds in the middle of hot (and) heated game, emotions are going to flare up sometimes,” Ramirez said. “They’re all competitors. The kids are competitors, and sometimes it happens. It’s our job to teach them that cool heads win hot games.
“We addressed the issue. I saw a few things that happened, and I think our kids overreacted to some of those things. We get pushed around, shoved around, and they always catch the second guy. They catch who retaliates. That’s what happened tonight.”
Pace plays Mercedes on the road Tuesday. Both teams are 5-0 in district.
Joshua McKinney covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him at (956) 982-6663 or via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @joshuabvherald.