ELSA — Edcouch-Elsa welcomed Santa Maria to the Hive on Monday afternoon for its home opener and swarmed the Cougars 71-62 in non-district action at Edcouch-Elsa High School.
The Yellow Jackets entered the second quarter trailing 18-13 on the scoreboard, but an uptick of intensity on the defensive end on the floor led to Santa Maria turnovers and Edcouch-Elsa buckets. The Yellow Jackets were beating the Cougars to their spot as E-E drew four charges during the second period with six total in the game.
“It’s a momentum-changer,” Edcouch-Elsa head coach Lalo Rios said about drawing charges on defense. “It’s a big play for us and it’s something that we preach and we practice a lot. It also changes the flow of the game, so that’s one of the things that we’re high on, and we take a lot of pride in that.”
Those turnovers allowed Edcouch-Elsa’s Aaron Aguinaga to get going as the senior forward scored seven points during the first quarter and six in each of the final three for a game-high 25 points.
“We need his leadership. He’s experienced, he’s been with us for a couple years now and he knows the system; he knows what we need for him to do he’s doing the job that we need him to do,” Rios said. “We’re just trying to get the other guys to play their role and kind of be that supporting cast for him.”
That supporting cast came up big for the Yellow Jackets as Christian Lira and Damian Granados chipped in 15 points apiece. Granados drained five 3-pointers in the game, while Lira emerged as the closer during the fourth quarter with 10 points and five made free throws to put the game out of reach.
Santa Maria senior point guard Andrew Morales didn’t let the Cougars go down without a fight, however. He scored 10 of his team-high 24 points in the final period. Morales finished with six 3-pointers, most from the left corner.
“It was a tough one. Santa Maria has got some experienced basketball players. They got a lot of returners back, and they did a good job. They gave us all we can handle all the way to the very end,” Rios said.
Next up for the Yellow Jackets is a non-district game against PSJA High with a 1:30 p.m. scheduled tip-off Friday at Edcouch-Elsa High School.