EDINBURG — “P.I.M.” and “R.T.”
Those five letters have motivated the Los Fresnos Falcons since last year’s season came to an end in the second round of the playoffs.
What exactly do the letters stand for? “Play in March” and “Regional Tournament.”
The Falcons accomplished both feats by reaching the third round of the playoffs against Edinburg Vela on Tuesday night, and by beating the SaberCats 62-49 in the Region IV-6A regional quarterfinals at Bert Ogden Arena. It’s the first time in program history that the Falcons have reached the “Sweet 16.”
“It’s been a goal of ours since last year when we got ousted in the second round. We said we’d be back. We got back and finally got over that second-round hump. We talked about getting to the regional tournament, playing in March. And we’re in March, and we’re in the regional tournament. I’m just proud of these guys,” Los Fresnos head coach Marco Hinojosa said.
The Falcons and SaberCats, two of the Rio Grande Valley’s top programs, spent the first three and a half quarters trading blows like heavyweights inside the squared circle.
Los Fresnos (33-3, 10-0) struck first as freshman phenom Gerry Martinez drilled his first three 3-pointers against the SaberCats from well beyond NBA range. His flurry put the Falcons up early.
“The kid lives for moments like this, this whole team does,” Hinojosa said. “We knew we were going to be ready to play. We’ve prepared, we’ve seen all types of defenses to prepare us to this point.”
Seniors Bobby Espericueta and Kaleb Coronado kept the SaberCats within striking distance, cutting Los Fresnos’ lead to 45-42 during the fourth quarter.
Los Fresnos, however, was ready for the run and responded.
“This team, all year, has weathered a lot of storms. Teams make runs, they don’t get rattled, they keep their head up, they stay focused and they finished the job,” Hinojosa said.
Martinez scored four during the fourth, as did Luis Gonzalez and Alex Moreno, which put the game out of reach and the Falcons into the regional semifinals for the first time under Hinojosa.
Martinez led the Falcons with a game-high 16, but the freshman said it was all about the eight seniors on the team.
“It’s amazing just to be a part of their group. It’s all them. Hats off to them, they’ve done an amazing job respecting me and giving me the ball as a freshman, you don’t really see that too often,” Martinez said.
Senior post Ricky Altamirano had a six-point, seven-rebound game. He said getting a third-round playoff win alongside his teammates at Bert Ogden Arena is something he’ll always remember.
“This is what we’ve wanted since the beginning. All of us seniors on the team have been working so hard. We all love what we do and we just have fun when we’re on the court,” Altamirano said.
For the SaberCats (22-17, 11-1), their season comes to an end in the third round of the playoffs. Espericueta led Vela with a team-high 15, Coronado added 10 and Austin Garza scored eight off the Vela bench.
“It was a competitive game from the beginning to the end. We’re resilient. That’s the kind of season we’ve had. You saw it against Nixon being down seven with four minutes left. Today, it was the same thing. They fought until the final buzzer,” Edinburg Vela head coach Lucio Rodriguez said.
Los Fresnos will get ready now for this weekend’s regional tournament in San Antonio.
“I told them, ‘Go get what’s yours. Go get what you worked hard for all year.’ They wanted it and we’re excited we’re moving on,” he said.
Los Fresnos will face San Antonio Brandeis at 5:30 p.m. at Littleton Gym for a spot to advance to the regional finals.
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