By LORI VERMASS | Special to the Star
LOS FRESNOS — It was a tale of two halves at Los Fresnos as the Falcons outlasted the Sharyland Pioneer Diamondbacks 49-48 in non-district play Tuesday night.
Both teams struggled to find their rhythm early, with neither team scoring until after the first two minutes. After scoring only five points in the first quarter to Sharyland’s 12, the Falcons clawed their way back to a two-point deficit by halftime.
Then came a decisive 26-point explosion by Los Fresnos in the third quarter, led by point guard John Martinez, who scored 14 points.
“John’s our motor. When he gets going we start to play better,” Falcons Coach Marco Hinojosa said.
With better passing and more aggressive play, Martinez helped engineer a fight to the finish. Sebastian Szpak hit a three-pointer at 6:10, followed by two layups by Martinez. When Ricky Altamirano sunk a 3 just 30 seconds later, Sharyland called a time out to regroup. Martinez then punctuated his
third-quarter scoring with a razzle-dazzle dribble before laying up for two more points to stretch the lead to six.
Sharyland rebounded in the fourth, but Los Fresnos kept pace, responses that produced multiple lead changes and ties. Some of the highlights include a Luke Padilla three-pointer, which put Sharyland ahead by two at the 5:50 mark; a calmly launched jumper by Altamirano to tie the game with two minutes left, followed by an Altamirano layup to pull ahead by two. As Sharyland retied the game each time, the action was so fast and feverish that the ball had to be toweled off a couple of times.
Finally with one second left, Sebastian Szpak drained one of two foul shots to eke out the one-point victory.
“We need close games like this,” said Hinojosa. “We’re young and we’ve been struggling to finish games, so I’m pleased we hung in there and finished. So I welcome these games even though they give me anxiety. The kids kept their composure at the end.”