By CLAIRE CRUZ, Staff Writer
LOS FRESNOS — The down-to-the-wire District 32-6A contest between the Los Fresnos Falcons and the Brownsville Hanna Golden Eagles had all the aspects of a thrilling game, and it was topped off with a family rivalry.
Friday’s game marked the first time brothers Fermin Lucio and Alex Lucio faced off with both in head coaching roles. Fermin leads Hanna’s program, and Alex is the interim coach for the Falcons in place of Marco Hinojosa, who is out because of COVID-19 protocols.
Alex Lucio, the older of the pair, earned the right to “rub it in” as his Falcons held on for the 47-46 victory to improve to 15-1, 4-0 despite a bit of an off night.
“That’s a sign of a good team, when you’re able to figure it out even though things aren’t going your way and you can still execute towards the end and make some big plays,” Alex Lucio said. “It just shows that they’re mentally tough and they’re resilient. It’s been like that the whole season. We’ve had some tough games, and they’ve been able to battle through.”
Los Fresnos controlled the opening quarter en route to a 17-8 lead. Gerry Martinez and Darius Garcia led a defensive effort that forced Hanna into contested shots, keeping the Golden Eagles from running an offense. Alex Moreno (10 points), Dayton Noriega and Roger Capetillo each hit 3-pointers to contribute to the early advantage.
Hanna fell behind by 12 points near the midway mark of the second quarter. There was a disconnect as the players tried to move the ball around to create open looks, which helped Los Fresnos rack up turnovers.
But the Falcons struggled to make their shots during the back end of the second quarter, and the Golden Eagles took advantage. Hanna’s rebounding improved, and it used its speed to win in transition for easy looks. Charles Thirlwall (12 points) and Emi Hernandez (eight points) showed extra effort on the offensive boards for second-chance shots.
Hernandez and Kevin Flores were quick to flip on their defensive switch when Los Fresnos rebounded under Hanna’s basket. The Golden Eagles’ defense turned steals into buckets to close the deficit to three points before the Falcons cushioned it a bit at the free-throw line and took a 28-23 lead into halftime.
Hanna’s momentum wasn’t slowed a bit by the mid-game break. The Golden Eagles came out hungry, and their defense and solid rebounding created offense. Ricardo Roman (nine points) and Diego Escovar (nine points) used strong drives to the basket to put Hanna on top 33-30 with two minutes remaining in the third.
“I asked for effort. It sounds simple and cliché, but we just asked for effort,” Fermin Lucio said. “They didn’t give up when we went down 12 points. The defense gave us some opportunities, we rebounded well for almost the whole game and we shared the ball. We weren’t selfish, we looked for the open guy and we knocked down some shots.”
Los Fresnos’ offensive production hit a low point during the third quarter as the Falcons scored just eight points. They didn’t have their best shooting effort Friday and had long stretches when the rim seemed too small, sending a plethora of shots ricocheting despite rebounds and earning multiple opportunities. Still, Los Fresnos reclaimed a slim 36-35 lead heading into the final eight minutes behind their defensive effort and the tireless attack of Martinez (13 points).
JJ Salazar stepped up in the fourth to lead Los Fresnos to victory. He was a force in the paint and used his physicality to dominate the boards and finish putback shots. He showed off his range to knock down a 3-pointer, opening the lead to 43-37 and forcing a Hanna timeout. Salazar scored seven of his 11 points during the final frame.
“(Salazar’s) the next freshman phenom, he’s like the next Gerry coming up. He’s going to be pretty dangerous once he starts to figure everything out,” Alex Lucio said. “I just told him, ‘You can take all these guys one-on-one, you just got to want it.’ And he took over there and hit some big shots when we really needed them. He’s fearless, and my job is just to motivate him to be better.”
Thirlwall played well down low and Escovar hit a 3 during the final seconds to get the Golden Eagles within one point, but Los Fresnos’ defense secured the win. Moreno notched a steal on a Hanna inbounds play under its own basket, and ball control helped the Falcons drain the clock.
“I just want to say I’m super proud of my team. They did everything we asked for,” Fermin Lucio said of his Eagles. “Los Fresnos is one of the top programs in the Valley and we hope to work our way to be there. We fought all the way for 32 minutes, but a couple possessions there at the end, young ball club, we didn’t execute there at the end.”