By MARK MOLINA | THE BROWNSVILLE HERALD
Earlier this month, the IDEA Frontier Chargers gave the Santa Rosa Warriors all they could handle for about three quarters before ultimately falling on the road.
This time around, the Warriors shot down any hopes of a Charger upset almost immediately.
The Warriors hot shooting and stingy defense helped them build a 17-point first-quarter lead and the hosting Chargers never found their footing as they fell 65-48 in a District 32-3A matchup Tuesday night at IDEA Frontier High School.
While the Warriors (5-0 32-3A) lit it up from the floor, the Chargers (3-2) couldn’t keep up the fast pace as they couldn’t take care of the ball, resulting in just three first-quarter field goals.
“Our shots weren’t falling and we were rushing them a little bit,” IDEA Frontier head coach Jerry De La Garza said. “I think the kids were a little bit overexcited; they’re a young group. (Santa Rosa) started off a little too fast for what we liked. Give (Santa Rosa) credit, they were hitting all their shots from the start of the game.
“We were able to put up a fight and start digging back into it, but unfortunately, it wasn’t enough towards the end.”
The Warriors got a big lift from Jonah Agado, who knocked in four of his five three-point shots in the first quarter, helping the Warriors to an early 24-7 lead.
Warriors head coach Johnny Cipriano said protecting the ball paved the way to the hot start.
“We executed really well in that first quarter and shot the ball well, but most importantly, I don’t know if we had any turnovers in that first quarter,” he said. “We just executed the game plan. We already played them once and they played us pretty close, so we knew what (Frontier) was capable of, but I’ve also known all along what we’re capable. For at least the first half, we new what we could do.”
Agado finished the night with 19 for the Warriors and teammate Ryan Perez led all scorers with 26 after a huge night in the paint.
Rodrigo Vasquez led the Chargers with 13, Gustavo Recio had 10 and David Vera and Bryan Camacho had nine apiece.
The Chargers pulled within 7-5 early on a Vasquez trey, but an Agado 3 and a pair of buckets from Perez sparked a 23-2 Warrior run that lasted from the 5:16 mark of the first quarter to the 6:17 mark of the second.
A Tyrese Arellano stopped the bleeding with a free throw to make it a 30-8 game.
Frontier managed to settle in at that point and finish the half outscoring the Warriors 16-12 and go into the break down 42-24.
Santa Rosa came out of the break sloppy and put up an 11-point quarter, its lowest of the night.
Frontier would be unable to capitalize, however, as it posted just seven points in the third and couldn’t fend off the Warriors’ defense.
“I feel like we shot ourselves in the foot,” De La Garza said. “We were forcing up shots and we weren’t going into our set offense. Give Santa Rosa credit, they played very god defense and they made their shots. I feel like we can play better and then kids know they can play better.
“We’ll bounce back from this and we have a young group with a lot to learn. These are the best games to learn from.”
The Warriors led by as many as 26 in the fourth, before Camacho led a 9-0 finish to the game with a pair of 3s.