By ROY HESS, Staff Writer
SAN BENITO — Maybe it wasn’t quite yet time for Hanna to hit the panic button, but the situation was getting a little serious for the Golden Eagles in the District 32-6A basketball race.
Hanna entered Friday’s district game at San Benito with an 0-2 record and wanted to avoid dropping its third straight conference contest at all costs.
As things turned out, the Eagles got off to a strong start and were up by double digits most of the second half on their way to capturing a 55-48 win over the Greyhounds. Both teams are now 1-2 in district.
After losses to 32-6A frontrunners Harlingen South (57-37) and Los Fresnos (67-50) to begin district action, Friday’s road victory felt pretty good for the Eagles.
“I think we just finally put together 32 minutes of good basketball,” Hanna coach Fermin Lucio said. “Playing at San Benito is always tough and our boys overcame some of the obstacles that we were challenged with.
“I think we learned from our first two district games that we could put things together (at some point),” Lucio added. “Hopefully we can keep getting better as we continue to play our district games. I hope we can keep it up and that this win is just as starting point for us to string together more victories.
“The district race is going to be long and tough. We want to be in the mix (at the end).”
What seemed to work well for the Eagles against San Benito was their inside play. Adam Lopez and Vicente Garcia, Hanna’s big men, enjoyed productive nights. Lopez, a constant presence around the basket, led all scorers by tallying 26 points, including 16 in the second half. Garcia finished with 10.
Those two were the only Hanna players to score in double figures, but it was enough for the Eagles to walk off the court victorious. Teammate Jaime Rucoba contributed eight points with a pair of 3-pointers.
The Greyhounds repeatedly tried to get back into the game after trailing 16-9 at the end of one quarter and 31-18 at the half. They went into the final period down 43-30.
“From the beginning, we weren’t playing as a team,” San Benito coach Eddie Abrego said. “Two of our best players were allowing the pressure to get to them, and in district play, you can’t play two on five or one on five (if someone is not performing). It has to be five on five.
“We spoke about it at halftime and it changed the players’ mentality (for the final two quarters),” Abrego added. “We put in about a quarter and a half (of playing with a unified, strong effort). That’s tough because Hanna is very aggressive. I tell our guys all the time, ‘They have a basketball school over there. They love basketball.’ We knew they were going to bring it against us tonight.”
Leading the scoring for the Greyhounds were David Sanchez, Rick Lucio and Jacob Sauceda with 16, 14 and 13 points, respectively. Sanchez and Lucio each hit three 3-pointers. Sauceda scored all of his 13 points during the second half.
Hanna went up by as many as 15 points twice during the third quarter at 33-18 and 38-23 as Garcia and Lopez each scored from close range.
The Greyhounds pulled within eight points, 53-45, with 30.9 seconds remaining as Sauceda made a pair of free throws.
Lopez drove down the lane and scored on a layup to restore Hanna’s lead to 10 points, 55-45, with 18 seconds to go before a San Benito 3-pointer with nine seconds showing accounted for the final outcome of 55-48.
Both teams continue district action Tuesday as Harlingen High is at Hanna and San Benito plays at Weslaco High.