KEVIN NARRO | Staff Writer
SAN PERLITA — The San Perlita Trojans used a barrage of threes and fed off a 20-point first half from junior Tige Johnson. San Perlita picked up a 82-59 win over Rio Hondo in day-one of the San Perlita tournament.
Johnson finished with a game high 28 points while Bryan Herrera dished 17 points, while his brother James Herrera finished with 11 points.
San Perlita came out firing and hit six threes in the first half, in the opening minutes the Trojans raced out to a 14-4 lead Parker Willis scored six points in the quarter. The offense opened things up behind Johnson and stretched their lead 20-8 late in the period.
“The kids came out hungry for a win today, after a tough loss on Tuesday against PSJA Memorial,” said Trojans coach Nataniel Garza. “They came out with a high intensity and never let down and we were able to beat a tough Rio Hondo team.”
The strong first quarter help set the tone for the afternoon.
The Trojans next game will be today at one when they square off against Monte Alto to wrap up their pool play. Rio Hondo meanwhile will await their next opponent after going 1-1 in pool play.
“I am very proud of the way the kids played,” Garza said. “They played together and unselfish basketball.”
Earlier in the day, the Cats beat Monte Alto 71-46. Against Monte Alto four Bobcats finished in double figures. CJ Leal scored 14, Daniel Garcia and John Cavazos each scored 11 and Jabez Villarreal scored a team high 22 points. Against San Perlita, Zeke Rios scored 16 points and Villarreal netted nine points.
The 9 th annual San Perlita tournament is in full swing heading into day two.
The tournament makes up of 24 teams, 12 girls teams and 12 boys teams.
“It is a good tournament for our community,” said Garza. “We have different teams that are competitive in our tournament and in our pool we have some tough opponents and we are excited to host this tournament.”