By ROY HESS, Staff Writer
The Brownsville Veterans Memorial Chargers are showing they’re a force to be reckoned with this basketball season.
The Chargers came on strong in the second half to pull away from Harlingen High 72-46 in non-district action Tuesday at the Brownsville Veterans gym.
The victory gives the Chargers, winners of the Brownsville ISD and Pearland Invitational tournaments, a 12-2 mark to start the season.
Brownsville Veterans led 20-14 after one quarter, 31-24 at halftime and 53-31 after three periods by outscoring the Cardinals 22-7 during the third quarter. They won 72-46 by outpointing the visitors 19-15 in the final eight minutes.
Chargers coach Larry Gibson said his players were a little sluggish to start out the game Tuesday after traveling so much and playing at the Pearland Tournament over the weekend.
“We played five games in three days and we just came off that road trip (to Houston), so our guys came out and their legs were real heavy early in this game,” Gibson said. “I think the first half we came out sluggish, but we picked it up in the second half. You saw what we are capable of in the final two quarters.
“That (strong second-half showing, outscoring Harlingen High 41-22) made us, the coaches, very proud because we had been kind of upset that the team wasn’t playing like we did to win the tournament in Houston,” Gibson added. “We showed what type of team we are in the second half.”
Harlingen High coach Leeroy Sanchez said his team, now 7-5, expected quite a battle against the Chargers, who are now in a different district than his ballclub.
“Brownsville Veterans is a heck of a team,” Sanchez said. “Some of their guys have been together for three or four years, so they’re a real good team. We’ve played them in the past when they were in out district. We knew what we were coming into tonight.
“We have a lot of young guys and they were going up against some experienced players,” Sanchez added. “We stayed close with them in the first half, but they’re a really good team and they got after it in the second half.”
It was a balanced scoring effort for the Chargers, who had four players in double figures. Leading the way was Aaron Villarreal with 18 points followed by Kevin Gomez with 15, Erick Saldana with 13 and Alex Marquez with 10. Gomez hit three 3-pointers.
The Cardinals were led by Reece Ortega’s 10 points. Teammates Eric Ramirez and John Gonzales each added eight points. Also, Mike Arellano and John Ortega contributed seven points apiece, each with a 3-pointer.
The biggest lead for the Chargers was 28 points, 67-39, with 2:01 remaining when Justin Anaya hit a 3-pointer from the right side.
“We’re trying to peak for district,” Gibson said. “We’re trying to get our rotation set and get everything ready so we’ll be prepared for Edcouch-Elsa on Dec. 30.
“I’m just proud of the way our guys are playing defense,” the Chargers coach added. “Even though we came out sluggish tonight, our defense was still there, and as long as we play defense, we’ll be in all of our games.”
Brownsville Veterans won’t play again until the Chargers visit Rivera next Tuesday. Harlingen High next plays in La Feria’s C.E. Vail Tournament, which begins Thursday.