By MARK MOLINA | Staff Writer

The 2019 Pace Vikings began the season with low expectations, losing key defensive parts and fielding a young squad.

Through big performances from underclassmen and quality coaching, the Vikings clawed their way out of a 10-team District 16-5A Division I and back to the postseason for a third straight year.
Leading that charge was freshman linebacker Drew Gonzalez, who has been named The Brownsville Herald’s 2019 All-Metro Football newcomer of the year, and Danny Pardo, who was tabbed as coach of the year.

For Pardo, it was no secret that returning just 10 players, including three on defense, was going to be an uphill battle, but the old cliché of putting players in the right spots to be successful rang true this season.

“We do get the most we can out of these kids, and if you look at our defensive lineup, you might say it looks like a middle school lineup,” the Vikings’ coach said. “But they play hard and they’re well-coached, I guarantee you that. My staff, they’re great. They do things that have been instilled in us from previous head coaches who we’ve worked under. When you get people who care for the school and care for the program, good things are going to happen.”

Pardo went on to say that the staff is filled with Pace and Brownsville alumni, who have bought in and make the system work.

“They fit into the program,” Pardo said. “We’re one big city, and we’re not going to get outworked. Since I started coaching here, that was the No. 1 thing: I might get beat, but it’s not going to be because I got outworked.”

One of those good things was Gonzalez, who burst on to the scene, pulling his weight and much more, racking up 83 tackles, nine tackles for loss, five sacks, an interception and five forced fumbles.
Gonzalez came in to the year with quelled expectations, but that didn’t stop him from seeing the potential of the young squad he was set to join.

“I didn’t think we would be as good as we ended up being,” he said. “I knew we were going to be good, but I knew we’d be really small and young.”

It didn’t take long for Gonzalez to get settled, as he gained some footing by the start of district play in Week 2 against Porter. He showed out with 10 tackles (one for a loss) and two forced fumbles, helping the Vikings to a 17-14 win over the Cowboys.

“By the second game I knew I needed to get with the program, and by then all the jitters were out,” he said. “I knew I had to just man up and play ball. I knew my teammates had my back. I had theirs as well, and my coaches helped me a lot.”

Pardo said Gonzalez has a great mind for the sports and wasn’t surprised by what the young linebacker was able to accomplish, but it took fine-tuning. Now, the Pace coach is looking forward to what Gonzalez will bring as a sophomore.

“The game will be so much slower for him because he’s seen it so many times,” Pardo said. “He’s just going to be moving, and that’s the beauty of him coming back. He’s a talented kid.”

By MARK MOLINA | Staff Writer

While the Hanna Golden Eagles faced a lot of questions during a lowly 2019 season, one thing that couldn’t be questioned was the work ethic and passion senior defensive tackle Brandon Esteves brought to the football field 100 percent of the time.

“It was an emotional roller coaster throughout the year,” Esteves said. “But every loss and every win we took, regardless of the outcome, I realized it’s a game and something I love doing, and I just have to (look) forward to the next one and forget about the past.”

Esteves was one of the few high points for the Golden Eagles, as he once again dominated in the trenches while simultaneously leading a crop of young players behind him, It earned him the distinction as The Brownsville Herald’s 2019 All-Metro Football defensive player of the year.

The Hanna senior put up solid numbers once again with 88 tackles, 25 tackles for a loss and three sacks. He was named District 32-6A’s co-defensive player of the year and was a second-team selection to the Texas Associated Press Sports Editors’ Class 6A all-state football team.

While the accolades and numbers jump off the page, Esteves remains humble yet intense.
“I think it’s two things (that allow me to perform at a high level), and that’s the hard work ethic of our team and the teamwork,” he said. “It really makes the job easier and it makes the job a lot of fun. It’s crazy (being out on the field), I’m just in the heat of the battle. I’ll be shouting and hollering and having a good time, and other times I’ll be getting mad at guys, telling them that they missed their assignment. At the end of the day we’re just having fun, playing a game and enjoying ourselves out on the field.”

Hanna coach Mark Guess said those qualities in Esteves helped cushion the blow of what was going to be a rebuilding year, especially on the defensive side of the ball.

“We knew coming in this year that we’d have to replace a lot of people,” Guess said. “If we were going to have just one guy coming back on defense this year, that would be the guy we’d want coming back just because of his presence. He picks up the play of everybody around him, and he’s a great leader. In the 27 years I’ve been (coaching), it would be hard to find someone else who I’ve coached on either side of the ball that gave the effort day in and day out everywhere he goes.

“He gets off on the side and he’s working on dummies, he’s working on pass rush and working on his hands,” Guess added. “The effort he put in to be as good as he could be has to be unmatched by anybody else I’ve coached. It showed on the field. You don’t have too many defensive lineman running 4.7 or 4.8 that can run down a quarterback or a running back 10, 15 yards up field.”

Right now, Esteves doesn’t know what his immediate future holds, but he will put his best foot forward, even if it’s not on the football field.

“If I don’t get any scholarship offers, it’s fine with me,” Esteves said. “Coach Guess said the most valuable thing you ever leave high school with is your education. Of course, that’s what I want to pursue after high school. I want to look for the best institution to do so and follow that.”

By MARK MOLINA | Staff Writer

With a bevy of young players on the roster, the Pace Vikings’ success this season was very much a team effort.
Among the youth and veterans sprinkled in was junior quarterback Jose Banda, who became the de facto leader of the team by season’s end and the player to whom the Vikings looked for big plays when they were needed most.

“I just look at all (the team’s) faces and know that they are my brothers and my teammates,” Banda said. “So I’m going to do everything I can to help my team succeed. All the coaches put a lot of trust into me, and I just wanted to show them that I am the one to call on.”

Banda delivered in big moments, and his strong play helped propel the team back into the playoffs for the third straight season. For his efforts, he has been named The Brownsville Herald’s 2019 All-Metro Football Most Valuable Player.

The junior quarterback threw for 1,656 yards with nine touchdowns and nine interceptions, and he rushed for 715 more yards and five scores.

While the numbers weren’t gaudy, Pace coach Danny Pardo said Banda, while still developing, possesses all the characteristics of a leader and playmaker in the clutch.

“He’s a confident kid, and we had all the confidence in the world in him,” Pardo said. “We have been able to open things up a little more because he’s more mature and does a great job with (quarterbacks coach) coach (Billy) Garza. It’s so easy with him. At any play and any time, it’s a big play. Anytime we needed that big play, we called his number. Our running back, Dylan Barron, was good and our backups were good, but if we were going to put our money on someone, it was going to be him.”

Admittedly, it took Banda some time to get settled early in the season, but when he did he made it his mission to prove he could lead the team.

“My coaches all helped me out and showed me where I went wrong,” Banda said. “Around midseason, it all just clicked in my head. I was the one they chose, and I wanted to give it my all and show them that they made the right choice.”

Pardo said he slowly saw flashes of his quarterback not only mastering the offense but coming out of his shell as a leader.

“He really got a hold of the offense by that time,” Pardo said. “At first he wasn’t a vocal person, he was quiet in the locker room. By Week 7 and Week 8, he began telling the team, ‘We have to do this,’ or, ‘We have to do that.’ We as coaches held back and just wanted to see where it went and see how he does. Little by little, he was becoming more of a leader. Before he was a leader by example, now (he’s vocal) and the kids are just, like, ‘OK, we’re going to do what you want.'”

The junior signal-caller showed that in two of the season’s biggest games.

During a big Week 9 win over Brownsville Veterans Memorial to clinch a playoff berth, Banda was 10 for 12 passing with 135 yards and one touchdown, and he rushed for 99 yards on the ground. He also rushed for key first downs late to secure a 26-21 victory.

Against Corpus Christi Miller in bi-district, Banda rushed for 169 yards and threw for 159 more yards to push the heavily favored, undefeated Buccaneers to the brink in a 28-21 loss.
Despite being the focal point and rising up in big moments, Banda said the best part of those memories will be watching his young team rally.

“Those moments really meant a lot,” Banda said. “I’m the set shot-caller, so just seeing everybody come together (meant a lot) because it was a team performance. it was the offense, the defense, and we all came together and set our eyes on the prize. We just went to go get it.”

Banda said this is just the beginning for this program filled with young talent, but 2019 was a big first step.

“Our team is coming along better, and we’re all growing,” Banda said. “We’re all getting used to playing together, but I’m confident that we’ll make it back to the playoffs again.”

By MARK MOLINA | Staff Writer

The Porter Cowboys hung around as best they could as they trailed the Mercedes Tigers by just 10 points at the break, but things eventually bottomed out.

The Tigers heated up from the floor and held the Cowboys to just one field goal during the third quarter as they rolled to a convincing 66-34 District 32-5A victory Friday night at Porter.

Also Friday, the Mercedes Lady Tigers rallied back from a double-digit deficit during the third quarter and upended the Porter Cowgirls 42-33.

In the boys game, Mercedes’ Brandon Lozoya scored a game-high 23 points and Jordan Ovalle followed with 22. The duo combined for 15 points during a third quarter in which Mercedes outscored Porter 20-2 to blow the game wide open.

Tigers coach Rick Trevino said it all started with deflections and transition buckets.

“ We got a lot of deflections, we were around the ball a lot and we got into passing lanes,” he said. “Every time we got deflections, steals or quick rebounds, it led to our offense. That stand on defense is what really stood out to me.”

Mercedes improved to 4-3 in district play, and Porter fell to 1-6.

Porter’s lone make from the field was on a Yahir Torres bucket at the 2:52 mark of the third to make it 43-23. The Cowboys didn’t hit another until the 3:54 mark of the fourth.

Porter coach Luis Garza said the scoring drought was an all-too-familiar feeling.

“ We’ve been struggling all year with (scoring),” he said. “We’re averaging 32.6 points per game. We just always have a quarter where we don’t come out inspired. I think the bottom line is that we have to play inspired basketball. I don’t think that’s happening. We make bad decisions, and we can’t put the ball in the basket.”

Torres led the way for Porter with seven points, and Brandon Reta, Kevin Garcia, and Rocco Almazon added six apiece.

Mercedes’ Justin Closner opened the third with a 3-pointer, and Ovalle followed by scoring the next six points, getting to the rack at ease.

Finally, Lozoya hit a triple of his own to cap a 12-0 run to open the quarter and push the lead to 43-21 with 2:52 left in the third.

Torres ended the run with a layup to make it 43-23, but an Ovalle trey on the other end led to a 15-0 run, which was spearheaded by 10 Lozoya points to push the lead to 58-23 by the 5:51 mark of the fourth.

“ We have decent scorers when we’re playing together and moving the ball,” Trevino said. “When we start playing selfish, that’s when we’re not shooting so well. So they did a better job today at moving the ball around.”

In the girls game, Porter’s Desiree Trevino scored 17 points to help her team build a 22-11 lead by the 6:46 mark of the third quarter. But as the boys did in the later game, the Cowgirls went cold from the field and were held without a field goal for more than 12 minutes.

That’s when Mercedes (4-5) woke up and outscored Porter (3-6) 31-11 the rest of the way, led by guard Sellie Gonzales, who scored 10 of her 12 points during the second half. Mercedes’ Mika Vento also scored 12 points, and Karissa Moya added nine.

“ We started attacking the basket, getting the rebounds on those 50-50 balls,” Mercedes girls coach Santiago Rivas said. “We locked up (Porter) in the second half and did a better job of finding the open girl. Porter is a tough team, and they were on a streak. We had lost two and they won two, so this is a big win for us.”

Desiree Trevino scored just one more point for Porter — on a free throw midway through the third quarter — to finish with 18 before fouling out later in the fourth quarter. Teammate Ashley Pena scored five points.

The Cowgirls recorded just three field goals during the final 13 minutes of the game.

“ We just weren’t communicating that well on defense (in the second half),” Desiree Trevino said. “We also moved the ball better in the first half, but in the second we started getting a little flustered. We just wanted to shoot the ball, when we were passing it and getting wide-open shots in the first half.”

By MARK MOLINA | Staff Writer

With first place on the line, the Pace Vikings matched the moment and opened the game with energy on both sides of the ball, and the Brownsville Veterans Memorial Chargers never found an answer.

Fueled by hot shooting and a frustrating defense, the Vikings opened up a double-digit lead during the first half and never looked back as they defeated the Chargers 68-57 to take control of District 32-5A on Friday night at Pace.

Also Tuesday, the Brownsville Veterans girls stayed unbeaten in District 32-5A with a decisive 62-20 victory over Pace.

Pace never trailed in the boys game, leading 19-8 after the first quarter and 22-12 by the early second quarter, all while making life tough at and on the way to the rim for the Chargers.

“That’s what it means for us to come out down 20,” Pace coach Jose Luis Ramirez said. “It was going to take everything we had to play this kind of game. We have to play at our best, and the kids came out and they hustled. They hustled for every play — four quarters. I’m very proud of these boys.”

Pace’s Cristian Guajardo led the way with 20 points, Elias Fortaneli added 14 and Alexander Agado netted 13, though the real story was in the hustle stats.

The Vikings (6-0 in district) recorded four blocks, 12 steals and 13 offensive rebounds on the night, frustrating the Chargers (5-1 in district), who played catchup all night after falling behind 18-9 after the first and by as many as 16 during the second half.

The Chargers were plagued with early turnovers, giving the ball away 14 times in the first half alone.

“Pace wanted it worse than us,” Chargers coach Larry Gibson said. “They came out with the attitude like this was their house and nobody was going to come in here and take nothing from them. We didn’t come out with that fire and that energy, and we got too far behind. That just wore us out. You can’t say it any better, they wanted it more than we did.”

Early on, Pace moved the ball smoothly in the half-court and in transition, getting buckets from five different players, including five points from Agado and Fortaneli to lead the early charge.

After a Guajardo 3 put Pace up 28-17 with 3:33 left in the first half, a Kelly Davis 3 sparked a 9-0 run that was bookended with a Damian Maldonado 3 to make it 28-26 with 1:49 to go in the second.

That was the first real sign of life for the Chargers, but Pace’s defense tightened up and locked down the paint, helping spark a 7-1 run to end the half up 35-27.

The Chargers did go to the line for 17 free throws during the first half, but missed nine of them and shot just eight in the second half.

While the aggression was a bit much for Pace, it was the effort that stuck out for Ramirez.

“The whole thing was making sure we cut off those lanes,” Ramirez said. “(Brownsville Veterans) was going to the lane at-will in the first half, and we got into a bit of foul trouble. The guys were able to keep them out of the lanes (in the second half) and were able to secure those rebounds in the end.”

Leading by just six midway through the third, an Agado layup made it 39-31 and a Fortaneli 3 pushed the lead back to 11.

Moments later, Fortaneli sank another triple to cap another timely run, this one ending at 10-0 to all but shut the door on the Chargers.

“Every time we got a few stops and come back a little bit, (Pace) hits a couple of big shots,” Gibson said. “They have a hell of a ballclub. We gave them everything we had, but we didn’t play for the first five minutes. After that, we said, ‘OK, we have to play.’ We did the best we could, but we couldn’t get over that hump. Give credit where credit is due. They wanted it more than we did tonight.”

Maldonado helped get the lead down to nine in the fourth with eight points, but that was as close as the Chargers got.

Maldonado netted a game-high 25 points on the night and Davis followed with 17, but the Chargers got little production elsewhere.

In the girls game, Brownsville Veterans (25-5, 8-0) opened the game on a 26-2 run, led by 10 first-quarter points from Lizzie Garza, who scored a game-high 12 points.

“One of the things we want to emphasize right now is getting off to a good start,” Lady Chargers coach Arnold Torres Jr. said. “We’ve been inconsistent in some games as far as energy at the beginning of the game. The fact that we hit some shots early kind of motivated us defensively.”

Pace (12-15, 4-4) recorded just five field goals in the game and trailed 39-6 at the break.

In all, the Lady Chargers sank eight 3s on the night, with three coming from JuJu Alvarez.

Pace’s Priscilla Garcia led her team with nine points.

By MARK MOLINA, Staff Writer

With the Brownsville Jubilee Titans opening eyes during their inaugural UIL season, there was chatter about the Santa Rosa Warriors possibly losing their first District 32-3A game in seven years.

The Warriors had other ideas.

CJ Olivarez scored a game-high 27 points and David Bazaldua followed with 18 to lead the Warriors to a 77-59 victory over the Titans on Friday night in Santa Rosa.

The Warriors (9-0 in district) opened the game on fire, jumping out to a 15-3 run and making things tough for the Titans at the rim with an aggressive defense.

“In the first quarter, we executed really well except for a couple of fouls that we weren’t trying to commit,” Santa Rosa coach Johnny Cipriano said. “But that was the game plan, to throw the first punch, basically. In any big fight, you want to throw the first punch. Not literally, but you want to make the first big impact and I think we did that, but (Jubilee) is a good team.”

Jubilee (8-1 in district) finished the first quarter strong as Cameron Davila scored six straight points for the Titans to lead an 8-2 run to make it a 17-11 game.

Consecutive 3-pointers from Santa Rosa’s Chris Vela and Rey Davila killed the Jubilee run and pushed the lead to 23-14 heading to the second. Timely Warriors shots were an issue throughout for the frustrated Titans.

“It was frustrating down the stretch,” Jubilee coach DeIra Glover said. “(Santa Rosa) got on top of us early, and we knew if that happened it would be hard for us to come back. The guys came back and we pushed it as much as we can, but they were the better team today.”

The chippiness escalated and the climb got tougher for Jubilee in the second when an on-court scuffle led to three of its nine dressed players being ejected after leaving the bench.

“It was a call that (the officials) made when they ejected three of our guys,” Glover said. “We accepted it and we moved forward. We just had to continue to push through with what we had.”

Four were ejected in total, including a Santa Rosa player, but Olivarez sank four freebies as a result and made it 42-25 late in the second.

“I had told our guys that it would be that type of game,” Cipriano said of the incident. “We knew how they played, and I know we play aggressive, too. I knew it would be chippy and urged them to keep their head, but unfortunately, not everyone kept their head. For the most part, we were able to keep our heads and do what we needed to pull off the victory.”

Olivarez scored 12 points during the quarter to keep the Warriors ahead of the Titans at the break.

The Titans were given a spark by a pair of 3-pointers from Osiel Escamilla in the third to cut the lead to 55-43, but the Warriors, as they did all night, provided an answer as an Olivarez trey killed the momentum soon after.

Bazaldua pitched in and netted seven points during the third, and a buzzer-beating layup from Vela to end the frame and push the lead to 71-48 shut the door for good.

“I think Jubilee was playing pretty aggressive and got a little tired towards the end,” Cipriano said. “We were able to put in that last-second layup. Props to my guys for looking up and seeing it, and actually attacking the basket and finish.”

Jubilee outscored Santa Rosa 13-6 in the fourth as Santa Rosa called off the dogs and began to kill the clock.

Fabian Noble’s 16 points led Jubilee. Escamilla followed with 15, and Davila posted 10.

Glover said his team will regroup as it prepares to begin the second half of district play.

“We’ll watch the film and see what we did wrong and where our mistakes were,” he said. “We’ll be ready to regroup for the next round of district, where we’ll see (Santa Rosa) again.”

By MARK MOLINA | Staff Writer

After trailing the Mercedes Tigers by eight points at the break, the Pace Vikings spent the entire second half slowly chipping away but never quite got over the hump.

That is, until the 2.7-second mark of the fourth quarter of a tie game.

Pace’s Abraham Rincon went to the free-throw line after being fouled on a rebound sequence. He missed the first shot but sank the second to secure a 61-60 District 32-5A win over the Tigers on Friday night at Pace.

“The fourth quarter was a little frustrating because we couldn’t put the ball in the basket, but we had trust in our teammates,” Rincon said. “We eventually pulled through with our free throws. After I missed the first free throw, I knew I couldn’t let my teammates down. I already had a practice shot with the first, so I had to hit the second.”

The Vikings, who usually have the green light to shoot, turned in a 34-percent showing from the floor, going 3 for 18 from beyond the arc and 0 for 10 during the second half.

Still, Pace (3-0 in district) held Mercedes (1-2 in district) without a field goal for the final 5:12 to stay in striking distance.

“We knew it was going to be tough all game and it could go either way,” Vikings coach Jose Luis Ramirez said. “We had to make one stop at a time and hope for the best on offense. In the end it was about who made the last play, and fortunately we did. We know we can play with good teams as long as we keep our cool. (Former Harlingen High coach) Greg Yates told me once that cool heads win hot games, and we try to preach that as much as possible.”

Guajardo led the Vikings with a team-high 17 points, Rincon finished with seven and Esquiel Hernandez netted 12.

Mercedes unraveled down the stretch, missing five of its 12 free throws during the final six minutes and making just three fourth-quarter field goals, a far cry from seven 3-point shots and 36 points in the first half.

The Tigers still had two seconds left to get in a quick inbound and get a shot off after Rincon’s free throw, but the inbound pass went high and bounced off the rafters, a symbolic representation of the final minutes.

“(Pace) flipped the momentum on us,” Mercedes coach Rick Trevino said. “We had an opportunity, then another and another and another. We probably had five or six to finish the game late, but we blew them all away. We had a bad shot when we were up, and a foul 80-feet away, missed free throws … You name it, we did it.”

Mercedes came out on fire, hitting three treys during the first quarter to jump out to a 17-8 lead in the late first quarter.

Pace went on a 13-3 run from there and took its only lead of the game aside from the final on a Guajardo layup to make it 21-20, but a Mercedes 3 on the other end 20 seconds later made it short-lived.

Tigers guard Brandon Lozoya scored 16 first-half points, including 11 second-quarter points, highlighted by a buzzer-beating 3 to go into the half leading the Vikings 36-28.

Lozoya cooled off during the second half, scoring just eight points and finishing with a game-high 24, just ahead of teammate Jordan Ovalle, who posted 18.

“Mercedes hit seven 3s in the first half. It doesn’t take a scientist to see that that is their strength right now,” Ramirez said. “We were giving it up, but also switched to man defense and made sure we were able to stay close and get a better look. It worked for us this time.”

Pace opened the third quarter with a Rincon bucket that sparked a 10-2 run that featured a pair of buckets from Hernandez to tie the game at 38.

Lozoya stopped the bleeding with a triple to make it 41-38 and gave Mercedes the small cushion it struggled to keep in the fourth as Pace tied the game three different times during the final five minutes. The last time was on a pair of Guajardo freebies with 14.7 seconds left, setting up the final sequence.

By MARK MOLINA | Staff Writer

During the Pace Vikings’ latest outing, ‘Down 20’ wasn’t just the motto embroidered on their uniform shorts, reminding them of the effort they should give for 32 minutes.

After a red-hot start by the visiting Los Fresnos Falcons, that was the situation in which the young Vikings found themselves, down 21 early in the second half.

Pace clawed back and cut the deficit to five with just more than one minute left on a pair of Alex Agado free throws, but a couple of turnovers down the stretch led to a pair of Luis Gonzalez layups that ultimately sealed a 62-55 Falcons win Monday at Pace.

“ If we’re down 20, we’re going to play hard no matter what the score is,” Pace coach Jose Luis Ramirez said. “(The players) did that, they played hard. I expected a tough team, (Los Fresnos) is the No. 1 team in the Valley for a reason … they are a great team. It was competing to the best of our level, and I think we did that tonight.”

The Falcons’ firepower in the first quarter proved to be the difference. They got whatever they wanted in the paint and on the perimeter, led by 18 combined points from Gerry Martinez and Ricky Altamirano, and held a 25-12 edge heading into the second period.

Altamirano finished the game leading all scorers with 17, Martinez followed with 16, and Luis Gonzalez and Elian Gonzalez each finished with 14 for the Falcons.

In total, the Falcons (20-1) posted 44 points during the first half and sank seven 3-point buckets.

“ Basketball was a game of runs,” Los Fresnos coach Marco Hinojosa said. “It’s four quarters, you don’t play a half. We shot the ball very well in the first half and not in the second half. Pace didn’t shoot it well in the first half but did in the second. It’s two good teams going at it.

“ Pace is young, but they are a very good ballclub. Coach Ramirez does a good job, and he has a lot of talented kids.”

Altamirano sank a 3 to open the first quarter, sparking an 8-2 run that was finished off by another Martinez trey to push the lead to 33-14 with 6:19 to play in the half.

Los Fresnos pushed the lead to 39-18 on a Luis Gonzalez bucket, but Pace’s Cris Guajardo sank a triple on the other end to get the deficit under 20.

Pace went into the break down 44-25 and was back down by 21 midway through the third after a Luis Gonzalez trey made it 49-28. The Vikings mounted a 9-2 run to end the third quarter, capped off by a 3 from Agado to make it 51-37 heading to the fourth as their aggression on offense and defense began to take its toll on Los Fresnos’ legs.

“ We knew if we made (Los Fresnos) put the ball on the floor and forced them to defend on offense, eventually we would wear them out,” Ramirez said. “I think you got to see that. I don’t think we did anything different (in the second half), we just forced Los Fresnos to wear themselves out. That, of course, affects shots. They didn’t hit the outside shot as much as the second half.”

The Falcons were held to just eight field goals and outscored 30-18 during the second half.

Down 14 in the fourth, Pace continued to cut into the lead with a 9-0 run, led by seven points from Agado, starting with a 3 and ending with a three-point play after a drive to the bucket to make it 58-53.

That was as close as it got, as the Falcons closed out the game allowing just a pair of freebies.

“ We have a good team,” Hinojosa said. “We can score it in bunches, we defend well, have a lot of guys who are unselfish and the ball movement. Any given night, any guy can put up 15 or 20, that’s how this team is built.

“ We hit shots in the first half, but not in the second half. Credit to Pace for coming out with more hunger, more energy and more will to win in the second half. It’s just two good teams going at it.”

Agado was the only Vikings player to score in double digits with 12. Teammate Esquiel Hernandez netted nine points.

By MARK MOLINA | STAFF WRITER

LYFORD — While some teams take a bit to shake the doldrums of the holiday season, the Santa Maria Lady Cougars took mere minutes before kicking it into gear at the Holiday Classic Lyford Basketball Tournament.

Yazmin Cantu scored 18 points and Michelle Almazon followed with 10 as the Lady Cougars rolled to a 45-22 opening–round victory over the IDEA Frontier Lady Chargers on Friday morning at Lyford High School.

After the Lady Cougars erased an early five-point deficit in first quarter, Cantu looked dominant in the in the paint with eight straight points, while the defense allowed just one Lady Chargers field goal in the second quarter, setting the tone for the rest of the game.

“We noticed our defensive intensity picked up in the latter part of the game,” Santa Maria head coach Albert Briones said. “That was a big difference. Our girls began to figure out (Frontier’s) press offense and it allowed us to get easy opportunities on the other end. (Cantu) got active and that’s what we needed — more touches. Once she did, it helped. Frontier played a 2-3 matchup and we spread it out, put her in the middle and she started taking it to the rack.”

Frontier got a couple of early buckets from Judy Arujao, including an early 3-pointer to help open a 7-2 lead, but managed just five makes from the field from that point on as Santa Maria’s press stifled the younger Lady Chargers.

“We started off awesome, but the little things killed us like the passing,” Frontier coach Victor Leija said. “Santa Maria played a really good defensive game and we panicked a little with our passing. We have a young team right now and coming off the Christmas holiday, you could see our sloppiness.”

Port Isabel, led by first-year head coach Kyle DeMoss defeated IDEA Donna 44-30, behind 14 points from Whitney Zaloski and eight points from Janessa Espinosa.

“The girls came out and played really hard,” DeMoss said. “For a 9 a.m. game, you never know what you’re going to get out of the girls, especially on Christmas break. We came out with a lot of energy and got a lot of steals. We played a good first quarter and it carried the rest of the game.”

Port Isabel would finish the day 1-1 after falling to Santa Maria 58-30 in the semifinals.

The Lady Cougars were once again led by Cantu, who scored 16 of her game-high 20 points in the first quarter, while Almazon added 15 and Byanca Cantu netted 11.

Santa Maria will meet the host Lyford Lady Bulldogs in the tournament championship.

Lyford breezed through its first two games. In the opener, the Lady Bulldogs trounced IDEA Alamo 61-24 behind 18 points from Kayleen May and 15 points from Sam Delgado and then ran over Kingsville King 62-33.

Tipoff for the Championship game is set for 4:30 p.m. in the Memorial gym, but not before both teams play guaranteed games.

Santa Maria will take on Kingsville King at 9 a.m. and Lyford faces Port Isabel at 10:30 a.m., with both games held at the Memorial gym.

By MARK MOLINA | STAFF WRITER

LOS FRESNOS — Minutes before tipping off against the Weslaco High Panthers, Los Fresnos head coach Marco Hinojosa said this was his team’s first tough test of the young season.

It would end up being a test the hosting Falcons would ace.

Guard Gerry Martinez scored a team-high 22 points, Ricky Altamirano followed with 18 and the Falcons cruised to a 62-42 win over the Panthers Friday afternoon at Los Fresnos High School.

Los Fresnos led by just two after the first quarter, but its offense heated up and outscored Weslaco High 37-21 over the next 16 minutes, led by 10 points from Martinez in the second quarter and 12 from Altamirano in the third.

“ It was two good teams going at it,” Hinojosa said. “Every time Weslaco and us play, it’s a classic. We weren’t able to pull away until the third quarter, where we hit some shot that we weren’t hitting. I want to say that our fast tempo got them a little tired, especially their bigs and we capitalized by that.”

Weslaco High coach Gabriel Valdez said his younger team was simply rattled in the second and third quarters, causing them to be overwhelmed by the Falcons’ speed and defensive pressure.

“ Los Fresnos has a really good senior ballclub,” he said. “We knew coming into this game that it would be a test for us with the lack of varsity experience in our guys. It hurt us a little bit, but we’ll bounce back and keep working and grinding on things.”

Weslaco High hung around early by feeding the ball to center Juan Balderas, who scored eight of Weslaco’s 10 first-quarter points.

“ (Balderas) is a solid ballplayer and we tried to stop him and we still couldn’t find a way to stop him,” Hinojosa said. “Credit (Weslaco) for that.”

While Balderas would tack on 15 more points the rest of the way and finish with a game-high 23 points, the Los Fresnos defense made life difficult for Weslaco High throughout and didn’t allow any other double-digit scorers.

“ I don’t think our bigs get enough credit on the block,” Valdez said. “Los Fresnos did a great job of trying to make them work. We tried to get (the ball) in early and establish that, but it faded away a little bit.”

Leading by three in the early second quarter, Martinez sank a deep straightaway three-pointer to spark a 14-3 run during which he would sink two triples and complete a three-point play on a drive to the basket to make it 30-16 with 2:40 to play in the first half.

After heading into the break up 31-18, Altamirano took over to start the third period, scoring the Falcons’ first nine points of the quarter and pushing the lead to 40-22.

The Falcons sank 10 treys on the day would lead by as many as 22 points on two different occasions in the second half.

“ We’re excited with what we’re seeing,” Hinojosa said. “I think the future is bright with us, we just have to continue following game plan like we did today. We have a lot of good kids that are team-oriented and understand what we want to do and they get it done on the floor. So credit to my kids, they follow a game plan and they’re just fun to be around.”