Claire Cruz | Special to the Star
A one-sided game may not seem like much of a challenge to someone who just sees the final score, but often blowout contests can test the mental strength of both teams.
That was the case Tuesday night as Rio Hondo defeated Progreso 57-8 in a district-opening matchup. The Lady ’Cats dominated from tip to final whistle, regardless of whether it was starters or subs on the court.
“We try to even out the minutes as much as possible, and in big games that’s not always possible,” Rio Hondo coach Victor Sauceda said. “But our subs practice hard, they deserved to play. It’s a testament to their hard work and them being ready to go when their number is called.”
The Lady ’Cats held Progreso scoreless through the first quarter, jumping out to a 26-0 lead. Their full-court defense was suffocating and forced the Lady Red Ants to make long passes, which often Rio Hondo intercepted and turned into uncontested layups.
Solid offensive rebounding gave Rio Hondo plenty of scoring chances that were not wasted as it cruised to a 45-2 halftime lead.
Progreso recorded its first points of the game with 3:01 remaining in the second quarter as freshman Syann Alaniz made two free throws.
Despite falling into a deep hole quickly, Progreso coach Anastacio Pecina continued to push his team. He continually told his girls to “lose the fear” in response to their hesitant start, and the pep talk he gave at the break sparked better play in the second half.
“When they’re already down, you just want to encourage and get them up,” Pecina said. “My message was to just play the game, just compete and not beat themselves before they even go on the court. I respect and love them for being out here, they’re all warriors to me.”
The Lady Red Ants played much more aggressively after halftime on both sides of the ball. They took more shots and didn’t force passes, which led to scoring six points in the second half, including three from Tamara Pecina.
Staying focused can be hard when a team is up big, so Sauceda centered his halftime talk around motivating his team to work on things it can do better, such as rebounding, running the floor and working on driving to the basket. That led to more ball movement and smarter shots by Rio Hondo during the second half.
Eliza Rodriguez and Ayisha Andrews both scored 14 points for Rio Hondo, and they made two and three 3-pointers, respectively. All 10 Lady ’Cats recorded at least two points in the contest.
“I have a group of girls who play basketball year ’round, and one of the things we really wanted to focus on this year was shooting and I think it’s starting to pay off, and tonight you saw shots really starting to fall,” Sauceda said.