By MARK MOLINA
Staff Writer
LA FERIA — Both the Pace Lady Vikings and the La Feria Lionettes basketball teams didn’t play a pretty game, as they each struggled on the offensive end of their Pool East matchup.
The teams played to a tie after three quarters, but the Lionettes made the shots down the stretch and came away with a 32-27 win Friday night during Day 2 of the Tommie Wiseman Tournament in La Feria.
After La Feria’s Lydia Alvarado put in a layup to make it 27-25 with 2:31 to play, teammate Maggie Cavazos followed with a straightaway three-point shot, and Kayla Lowe added an insurance bucket to cap a 7-0 run.
La Feria coach Angel Martinez said his team spent the entire game rushing shots but was able to settle down and hit the shots in the clutch.
“We needed to let the offense run the offense, be patient and get a lot of ball movement,” he said. “We came down the court and would go one pass, one shot, and that’s not what we’re supposed to do offensively. We’re not that great shooting the ball right now and we’re getting better, but to be able to go down there and hit that quick 3 shows we have to be patient and make the defense work a little bit.”
Pace trailed by as many as 10 early in the second quarter but outscored La Feria 19-9 to head to the fourth quarter tied.
The Lady Vikings faltered down the stretch, scoring four points on two buckets from guard Lexi Arce.
“We had a lot of missed opportunities and missed a lot of layups in the first half,” Pace coach Eddie Lozano said. “We ran out of gas in the fourth quarter, but (La Feria) played a good game. We’re still trying to find our identity. District starts in a couple of weeks and we have to find it fast; hopefully we do.”
Arce finished with a game-high 13 points to lead Pace, Cavazos led La Feria with 11 and teammate Aaliyah Cavazos scored eight points.
Pace defeated Valley View 40-31 earlier in the day and will take on Rivera in the fifth-place game at 9 a.m. in the main La Feria gym.
La Feria lost to PSJA High 36-30 earlier in the day and was scheduled to play in the third-place game against PSJA North, but the Lionettes will be shorthanded with their football team’s regional football game against La Vernia scheduled for today in Corpus Christi. As a result, the Lionettes will bow out of the tournament.
In other earlier games, Rivera lost 39-17 to Mercedes and 64-42 to PSJA North.
Port Isabel dropped games 58-27 to PSJA North and 57-43 to Mercedes.
Jubilee Brownsville had a good day, going 2-0 with wins over Zapata (61-45) and La Joya Juarez-Lincoln (55-49).