BROWNSVILLE — The Brownsville Hanna Eagles did not let Brownsville IDEA Riverview score until the 5:28 mark of the second quarter, racking up 41 points before the Rockets finally made a free throw.
The Eagles won the opening game of the BISD boys tournament 77-12 on Thursday at Hanna High School.
“They are always excited to play, especially on our home court for a tournament morning game,” Brownsville Hanna head coach Fermin Lucio said. “I was excited that they came out and did not waste time, played full speed and got after it.”
The Eagles’ starters showed no mercy as their press created easy turnovers when the Rockets struggled to move the ball over halfcourt.
Brownsville Hanna bombarded the Rockets with open 3-pointers and flexed by easily outbodying the Rockets on contested shots at the rim.
The Eagles did not leave their starters in the game long with a heavy rotation after the Eagles took a quick 18-0 lead with plenty of time left in the opening quarter.
Key players periodically returned to finish the half up 53-5. Ricardo Roman scored 13 points to lead the team in scoring. Kevin Flores scored 10 points and Beto Galaza hit three 3-pointers during the first half to finish with nine points.
Twelve Eagles scored in the game. Brownsville Hanna closed out the second half with most of the team playing solid minutes.
“It is a good opportunity for the guys off the bench to come in,” Lucio said. “We did not have a dropoff from the first group to second group. We are looking at trying to go deeper in our bench, so these are good tests to get minutes for some of these other guys.”
Brownsville Hanna meets Brownsville Pace today to sort out which team will take first in the pool at 10:30 a.m. today at Brownsville Hanna High School.
“That is going to be a good game,” Lucio said. “Pace is coming off a big victory on Tuesday. We scheduled that one to get a good inner-city rivalry game in the tournament, it will be a good test for us, for sure.”
The BISD boys tournament continues at 9 a.m. today at both Brownsville Hanna and Brownsville Porter High Schools. Seeded bracket play begins at 3 p.m.