By ANDREW CRUM | THE BROWNSVILLE HERALD
KINGSVILLE — Port Isabel had trouble from the start with Somerset’s height advantage.
The Tarpons couldn’t match the Bulldogs on the boards and a tough night from the floor added to their woes in a 74-36 loss in a Class 4A regional quarterfinal boys basketball game Tuesday at Texas A&M University-Kingsville.
Port Isabel (20-13) was outrebounded 41-19 and Somerset (26-9), the No. 22-ranked team in Class 4A, took advantage in the paint getting 20 points, six rebounds and five blocks from 6-foot, 10-inch Jacob Harvey and nine points, 16 boards and a block from 6-foot, 7-inch Zaddock Dinkelmann.
The Tarpons struggled to get things going on offense and made just 14 field goals, including five 3-pointers, on the night.
“We weren’t hitting our shots,” Port Isabel coach Mike Hazelton said. “We had to try to come in early and hit our shots and try to draw the two bigs out. When you’re not hitting the shots, there’s no sense for them defensively to play up.
“The plan was to hit some shots early and force them out … it didn’t happen.”
Port Isabel stayed with the Bulldogs in the opening quarter. After Harvey got a putback to give Somerset a 10-2 lead, Fernie Lopez hit a trey to pull the Tarpons within 16-10 and had six points in the quarter. The Bulldogs finished the quarter on a 6-2 spurt, however, to push the lead to 10 as Harvey notched 10 points in the first.
Port Isabel got a 3 from Daniel Rinza, Jr. and a bucket from Chuy Saldivar early in the second period to climb within 28-17, but Somerset made another move.
Isaiah Rivera had eight points during a 13-2 burst to finish the half and the Bulldogs increased their advantage to 41-19 at the break.
“We respected these guys; they were here for a reason,” Somerset coach Bryan Penna said. “I told the team don’t settle for 3s, that’s been our biggest issue … trying to go outside rather than inside. We knew they didn’t have anyone that could handle our bigs. So I said let’s hammer it inside and get to the basket as much as possible.
“We knew we had to get it to our bigs and our shooters and if we focused on those things it would lead to getting a (bigger) lead.”
The Tarpons continued to struggle on offense in the third quarter and Somerset continued to get buckets from inside and outside. Harvey had back-to-back buckets during a 12-0 run to finish and had eight points and Rivera also chipped in eight as the Bulldogs pushed their lead to 64-26 after three.
The teams were even in the fourth quarter, but the damage was already done as Somerset was too much for Port Isabel during the Tarpons’ first trip to the third round of the postseason.
Rivera finished with a game-high 21 points, six rebounds, five assists and three steals for the Bulldogs.
As well as the offense played, Penna said he was just as happy with the defensive effort.
“Our defense has gotten better throughout district play, that’s been our foundation and we’ve gone from there,” he said.
Lopez led the Tarpons with nine points, including a pair of 3s, Rinza Jr. had eight points, three rebounds and a pair of steals and Tommy Zurita added six points, four rebounds and five steals.
The loss is bittersweet for Port Isabel, especially after turning it around this year with a familiar face on the sideline and making program history.
“I’m the third coach in four years,” Hazelton said of his return after coaching in some of the lower levels at the school a few years prior. “They’ve been through a lot, different styles (of play and coaching) and I was very happy for them to make the playoffs because no one believed we could do it. But we believed it and beat two teams outside the Valley.
“We got off to a great start in those two games, this one we didn’t and a lot of times in basketball that’s the way it is and it’s hard to play catch up.”
But the future looks bright for Hazelton and plenty of experience returning next season.
“There was a good nucleus (this season) and I knew they could do some things,” he said. “We have four seniors, but 11 guys are coming back. There’s some momentum and everyone can see that these guys can play some basketball.”
Andrew Crum covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him at (956) 982-6629 or via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @andrewmcrum.