By FREDDY GONZALEZ | Staff Writer
RIO HONDO — Victoria Vasquez scored 14 points, Alexis Rodriguez had 11 and Victoria Aguilar contributed six as the Rio Hondo Lady Bobcats rallied late in the game to defeat Port Isabel 39-33 Friday evening at the Lady Bobcats gymnasium.
The win puts the Lady Bobcats at 21-9 overall and 7-2 in district along with La Feria, Hidalgo and Zapata for first place in District 32-4A.
“We played pretty well tonight, but PI is a tough team. They’re 2-7 but they’re a real tough 2-7,” said Rio Hondo head coach Robert Jaramillo. “They’ve lost a few games here and there, but by very little. They could easily be up there in the standings.
“We’re hanging in there, toughing things out and getting the wins. They haven’t all been pretty, but we have managed to come out on top.”
This game was no different for Rio Hondo as the team needed a fourth-quarter comeback to seal the win. It wasn’t until late in the third quarter that Vasquez nailed a jumper to give the Lady Bobcats their second lead of the contest at 26-25. Their first was a 4-2 first-quarter lead.
However, seconds before the end of the third, the Lady Tarpons took back the lead when Jasmine Saldivar scored two of her 11 points on the night to give Port Isabel a 27-26 advantage heading into the fourth.
But Rio Hondo started the fourth quarter on a 6-0 run and outscored the Lady Tarpons 13-6 in the final period.
Port Isabel head coach Blake Ramsey said after the game, “Every game in district has been a battle for us and it’s a testament to our district, and how every team is tough.”
For Port Isabel, the loss dropped the Lady Tarpons to 9-28 overall and 2-7 in district.
“I was very proud of our performance,” said Ramsey. “We executed our game plan very well, unfortunately the last two and half minutes we had a few mistakes.
“Rio Hondo is a good team and we can’t let that happen at that point in the game. We were winning most of the game and we had them there, but we just didn’t finish.”
Next, Rio Hondo hosts Progresso on Tuesday then travel to Raymondville next Friday.
Port Isabel, meanwhile, takes on Raymondville on Tuesday and Grulla next weekend.