BY TJ GARCIA | SPECIAL TO THE MONITOR
McALLEN — La Joya Palmview’s slow-it-down strategy almost proved costly.
But then, it didn’t.
Senior forward Ever Perez drained a go-head 3-pointer in overtime to give the La Joya Palmview Lobos a 40-39 victory over McAllen Memorial to open District 30-6A play on Friday afternoon at the Mustangs’ gym.
With the victory, Palmview is 1-0 in district, and McAllen Memorial, which has lost five straight overall, is 0-1.
Perez, a 6-foot-4 stretch four with a silky outside shot, hit his fourth trey of the low-scoring game with 1:12 left in the extra period to put the Lobos up for good. But his heroics nearly weren’t needed. Palmview took an 8-point lead with just more than four minutes remaining in regulation, then spread the court and stalled.
“I’ll take a pretty win over an ugly loss, but we’re trying to scrape by. They are a good ballclub,” Palmview coach Andy Saenz said. “We had a lead. We knew they were going to tighten up the screws on defense. It was just matter of us executing and staying focused and just reacting.”
Saenz said he went to the spread to leverage his squad’s quickness over Memorial’s height. And it worked for a while, and then almost cost them the game.
After going up 35-27 with 4:15 left in the fourth, Palmview went 0-for-4 from the floor, missed the front end of two one-and-ones and turned the ball over four times. That allowed the Mustangs to go on an 8-0 run and eventually tie the game, sparked by the play of talented junior Josh Sanchez.
Memorial even had the game’s final possession in regulation, taking over with 15 seconds left, but failed to convert a set play to leave the game knotted at 35. The Mustangs had other opportunities to cut into the lead but missed 7 of 14 second-half free throws.
Palmview point guard John Castanon said the spread offense is something the Lobos practice and are comfortable running — if they can handle the ball and hit free throws.
“Obviously, it’s called to stall the game, because we had an 8-point lead. We wanted to control the ball and let them come to us,” said Castanon, a senior who finished with 9 points. “I am proud of my team, because we blew an eight-point lead, but we were able to come back and win the game, and that’s what counts.”
In the extra period, the teams traded turnovers before Sanchez hit a layup for a 37-35 Memorial lead. Palmview came back with a Tristen Myende free-throw and, after a Memorial turnover, Perez (12 points) hit his fourth trey of the night to give the Lobos a 39-37 lead. After another Memorial turnover, Castanon hit a free throw for a 40-37 lead.
The Mustangs’ Will Garcia hit a late basket to get within one, but the clock ran out after that and Palmview secured its first district victory of the 2016-2017 season. For Memorial, which was playing with two hobbled starters in Garcia and Johnny Larson and a litany of other injuries, there are no excuses, coach Sam Cortez said.
“We let one slip. We haven’t lost one (district game) here at the house in almost three years,” Cortez said. “I knew they were going to be scrappy. I don’t want to make excuses, but I have guys hurt. I am asking a lot from some of those young guys to step in their (starters) shoes. We missed too many free throws. We just let one slip.”
Sanchez lead Memorial with 18 points and 7 rebounds. Garcia added 10 points and 5 boards. Paco De La O added 11 points and 7 rebounds for Palmview.