By CLAIRE CRUZ, Staff Writer
When the final whistle blew in Brownsville Jubilee’s Class 3A area-round playoff game against Aransas Pass, the Lady Titans looked drained, but the Lady Panthers did not.
Aransas Pass boasts a deep roster that allows coach Garry Smith to swap out the five-player rotation every few minutes, keeping his girls fresh and able to push the tempo of the game. That luxury, combined with strong post play, led the Lady Panthers to a 68-48 win over Jubilee on Friday.
“I feel extremely proud of our girls. I think we battled, but height killed us and the speed of the game,” Jubilee coach Victor Venegas said. “Nobody gave us a chance at the beginning of the year, but we won the district and (in) the first round, and proved that we can play at this level.”
Jubilee fell behind 11-0 early, but the Lady Titans fought to close the deficit to 15-11 at the end of the first quarter. Point guards Julissa Garza and Marianna Espinosa displayed strong ball handling to get through a tough Aransas Pass full-court defense.
Garza and fellow junior Alexis Robinson played lockdown defense at the top of Jubilee’s half-court setup to contain the outside shooters. Garza knocked down eight points during the second quarter, including a huge three-point shot to cut the lead to 20-19 midway through the frame.
Aransas Pass promptly answered with a Sheila Cabrera deep ball and turned up the defensive pressure to contain Jubilee’s offense and build the lead back to 11 points at halftime.
During the second half, the Lady Panthers exploited their height advantage and fed the ball inside to Kimberly Castillo and Makhileigh Brown. They kissed the ball off the glass for easy buckets, combining to score 21 second-half points. Castillo and Brown led Aransas Pass with 16 and 15 points, respectively.
“Jubilee is an outstanding team, great guard play and terrific team hustle, but one of the areas I thought we could get them was on the inside, so we did focus primarily on that,” Smith said.
As the Lady Titans began to tire and Aransas Pass continued to push the pace of the game, the fouls started adding up and the offense often turned the ball over. Three Jubilee starters fouled out during the third quarter, leaving Garza and Espinosa to lead the charge.
Espinosa, who is just a freshman, scored 12 points during the second half and was the leading scorer in the contest with 17. Juniors Garza and Robinson added 14 and eight, respectively. Garza was emotional after the loss but was proud of the run her team made in its inaugural UIL season.
“We should have come out stronger, but we didn’t and came out short,” Garza said. “It’s more challenging when you move up. … We know what to expect now, so we’re going to work hard all offseason.”