By CLAIRE CRUZ, Staff Writer
Day 2 of the Brownsville ISD boys and girls basketball tournaments was action-packed as teams took the first step toward clinching bracket championships.
The boys teams played one final pool play game in the early slate Friday before beginning seeded bracket play.
Brownsville Pace and Brownsville St. Joseph gave a full Pace gym quite a show as they battled for the No. 1 seed in Pool C. The Pace Vikings picked up a 70-53 victory over the Bloodhounds.
The Bloodhounds got off to a fast start to take an early lead. Pace’s Benny Villarreal came up big in the paint to slow SJA and snagged rebounds to help tie the game at 10. From that point, the two solid squads swapped blows like heavyweights until Pace opened things up during the fourth quarter.
Luigi Cristiano (15 points) and Josh Cisneros (13 points) anchored the Bloodhounds, knocking down clutch shots and with strong play in the paint from Cristiano. But SJA was held to nine points in the fourth quarter as Pace turned up the defensive intensity.
Cristian Guajardo (25 points), Alexander Agado (16 points) and Benny Villarreal (14 points) turned in key performances to lead the Vikings to victory. Elias Fortaneli contributed top-notch defense, sticking tightly to SJA’s Gerry Martinez to keep the top offensive weapon quiet.
Pace, Brownsville Rivera, Brownsville Hanna and McAllen Rowe each went undefeated in pool play and moved on to the platinum bracket. St. Joseph, Brownsville Veterans, Port Isabel and Edinburg Economedes advanced as No. 2 seeds.
Edinburg Economedes and St. Joseph defeated Hanna and Rowe, respectively, in the opening round of bracket play Friday evening to reach the platinum championship semifinals. They’ll face off today at 12:30 p.m. at Hanna’s main gym.
Port Isabel defeated Rivera 50-44 and will face Pace, which defeated Brownsville Veterans Memorial 64-61 in Round 1, in the platinum semifinals at 12:30 p.m. at Hanna’s “B” gym.
The Tarpons had to battle in a back-and-forth contest with the Raiders. Ultimately, their speed and athleticism made the difference. Gilbert Medina, Kaiden Martinez and Josue Navarro were physical down low to snag a plethora of rebounds. The Tarpons found a lot of points by feeding defensive rebounds to open teammates with long passes for open layups.
Medina (14 points) and Joey Ricco showed off their handles to beat Rivera’s clingy defenders and create scoring opportunities for Port Isabel. Jeffery Smith added 10 points behind strong drives.
The contest got chippy as the second half rolled on, and both teams were called for frequent fouls. Ramsey Rocha led Rivera’s offense with 24 points and nailed four 3-pointers. Irineo Acevedo (11 points) was physical in the paint and teamed with Alek Guzman to anchor Rivera’s rebounding.
In the gold bracket, Brownsville Lopez advanced to the semifinals with a 61-43 win over San Benito. The Lopez Lobos will face Brownsville Porter at 9:30 a.m. at Hanna’s “B” gym.
Junior guard Marco Coello had a monster game to lead Lopez to victory, scoring a whopping 43 points. Coello was also effective defensively, forcing turnovers and cashing them in on the other end with strong drives and smooth jump shots.
Lopez used a relentlessly aggressive defense to open things up during the second half. The Lobos closed the third quarter with a 7-0 run, then they dominated the boards and played physical defense to hold San Benito to six points in the fourth quarter. DeAnthony Mireles paced the Greyhounds with 14 points.
In the girls tournament, Los Fresnos routed San Perlita 84-44 to advance to the platinum bracket semifinals, where it will take on McAllen High at Hanna’s “B” gym. Edinburg Harvest and Edinburg Vela will compete at Hanna’s main gym. Both contests are scheduled for 11 a.m. today.
The gold bracket championship semifinal games will take place at 9:30 a.m. today. Brownsville Rivera and Harlingen High JV face off at Hanna, and Rio Hondo and Brownsville St. Joseph will tip off at Brownsville Porter.
In the silver bracket championship semifinals, Porter and Donna IDEA are playing at Hanna’s main gym. Lyford will battle the Hanna JV at the B gym. Both contests will tip off at 8 a.m.
All three girls championship games are scheduled for 2 p.m. at Hanna’s campus. The boys gold championship is slated for 12:30 p.m., and the platinum championship will be played at 3:30 p.m., both at Hanna.