By ROY HESS, Staff Writer

It’s been quite a past few days of success for Los Fresnos athletics.

The Los Fresnos softball and baseball teams captured tournament championships over the weekend. And to top it all, the Los Fresnos boys basketball team qualified for the Region IV-6A Tournament later this week in San Antonio with Tuesday’s 62-49 third-round victory over Edinburg Vela.

The Lady Falcons’ softball team went 4-1 during the past weekend’s Los Fresnos-Port Isabel Tournament, including a 7-3 victory Saturday against Rio Hondo in the title game.

“I think my team is playing well overall (at this point of the season),” Lady Falcons softball coach Traci Blackman said. “Since I have only four returners right now (from last year’s team), we are taking things one game at a time and trying to gain some good experience. I see a lot of them gaining some confidence in playing at the varsity level.”

When asked who her top players or captains were, Blackman said, “I don’t really have any captains. I have four returners, though. It’s hard to give a list of standouts because they are all doing a good job.”

The Lady Falcons next play in the Brownsville ISD Tournament that starts today.

The Falcons’ baseball team improved to 6-0 on the season after going 4-0 in the Los Fresnos-Port Isabel Tournament with a 10-5 triumph over Brownsville Porter in Saturday’s championship game.

Los Fresnos’ Germain Castillo, a junior center fielder/right-handed pitcher, was named the tournament MVP. He had two of his team’s 10 hits against Porter, including a first-inning solo home run.

“Our bats came alive and some good things happened,” said 14th-year Falcons baseball coach Rene Morales, who has taught and coached at Los Fresnos for 27 years.

When asked what he likes about the way his team is playing so far this season, Morales said, “It’s our overall team hustle and team chemistry. We still have a lot of jelling to do. Right now, we’re just trying to get better every day.”

The Falcons next play in a Corpus Christi tournament that starts today.

LADY CARDS SOFTBALL

The Harlingen High softball team is coming off a strong showing at last weekend’s La Joya Tournament.

The Lady Cardinals are now 10-1 after suffering their only setback of the season thus far in the La Joya Tournament title game as Edinburg Vela prevailed against Harlingen High 3-2 in 11 innings.

“My team at this point is playing very sound and fundamental softball,” Lady Cards coach Josh Silva said. “We can hit the ball well, 1 through 9 in the lineup. We have been getting hits in the right situations with runners on base and so forth.

“Right now, one of our top performers offensively is April Garcia, who leads the team in home runs, OBP and BA,” Silva added. “Another top performer offensively is sophomore shortstop Alexa Perez, who is one of our captains. She is hitting well above .500 and has an OBP of, like, .600 something.”

The Lady Cards are getting the job done defensively as well.

“Defensively as a unit we are keeping our fielding percentage high with only five errors committed on the season,” Silva said. “And so far, most impressive is our pitching ace Audrie Sayas. The last time I checked she has 42 strikeouts and only seven walks in 18 innings with an ERA of 1.114.

“She’s our standout at this point, but this is a whole-team effort,” the Lady Cards coach added. “Audrie pitches well because she’s fearless and knows she has a sound and fundamental team behind her. We just grind, and reinforce making routine plays and making strong, solid contact with our bats.”

BISD SOFTBALL TOURNAMENT

The Brownsville ISD Softball Tournament opens at 10 a.m. today with games at Brownsville schools Hanna, Pace, Veterans Memorial and Rivera.

Besides the squads from the host sites, other teams in the tournament are Brownsville Lopez, Laredo Nixon, La Villa, Weslaco East, Los Fresnos, Edinburg High, Laredo Cigarroa, Port Isabel, Bryan High, Laredo Martin, La Feria, Edinburg Economedes, Brownsville Porter, McAllen High, Edinburg Vela and Laredo LBJ.

The tournament championship game is scheduled for 2 p.m. Saturday at Hanna.

SAN BENITO EVENT

The Lady ’Hounds Softball Invitational opens at 9 a.m. today with host San Benito facing Lyford. Other teams in the tournament are Mercedes, Rio Hondo and Sharyland Pioneer.

The tournament championship game is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. Saturday in San Benito.

By ROY HESS, Staff Writer

Surprising news in the District 32-5A boys soccer race came out of Valley View on Friday night.

The Brownsville Porter Cowboys rallied from an early 1-0 deficit to defeat the Tigers 2-1 and knock them out of a share of the lead in 32-5A.

Brownsvillle Veterans Memorial, a 6-1 winner against Mercedes on Friday, now has sole possession of the district lead with a 9-1 record and 27 points.

Valley View is now second at 8-2 with 24 points.

Porter and Brownsville Lopez share third place. Porter is 6-4 with 20 points, and Lopez is 7-3 with 20 points.

The top teams will be playing each other during the coming week.

Porter narrowly lost to Valley View 2-1 in Brownsville during the first round of district Jan. 31. Cowboys coach Jose Espitia said his team stuck with its same game plan in the second-round rematch.

“We told our players to understand they are a part of a winning program and to play like it,” Espitia said. “We made sure they had the right mindset and to (just) worry about playing (hard) and imposing our style of play.

“I am super proud of our team for this great victory, but this is just one win for us,” the Porter coach added. “We have to focus on the next one (against Lopez on Tuesday) to secure a playoff berth.”

Espitia said the Cowboys almost won Jan. 31.

“We were very close the first time,” he said. “We played a man down the last 15 minutes. I think our boys played with a lot of heart and intensity this time. Our game plan was the same, which was to pressure up front and get them off their game. But this time we were Porter and were not worried about who they were or who they had in their lineup.”

Espitia said his guys did a good job of weathering the pressure on the road.

“Valley View scored first,” he said. “They were very aggressive on the attack the first 10 minutes. Once they scored, they backed down a little, and our boys got into the game.

“By the time we knew it, we were in complete control,” he added. “(Porter’s) Xavier Mateos came in after the 15th minute, and he scored on a counter 10 minutes later to tie the game at 1 (and make the score even at halftime).

“The second half was all Porter’s,” he added. “We scored our second goal off a throw-in from right side. Ossiris Hernandez drove the ball in and passed it back to Brandon Montes, who made the winning goal six minutes before the end of regulation.”

Porter next plays at Lopez at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. They went to PKs during the first round.

Brownsville Veterans plays host to Valley View, also at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.

By ROY HESS, Staff Writer

Another week has come and gone, and the boys and girls soccer races in District 32-6A are just as close as ever.

Perhaps Michael Miller, coach of the Los Fresnos Falcons who narrowly lead the 32-6A boys race, put it best when he said, “It is where we want to be, but we have four tough games left (in the second round) if we want to finish there (in first place).

Los Fresnos leads the boys race with a 5-1 record and 15 points, and Brownsville Hanna is in second place with a 4-2 record and 13 points.

Brownsville Rivera is in third place with a 4-2 mark and 12 points, and San Benito is in fourth at 3-3 with nine points.

Harlingen South and Harlingen High round out the boys standings with 1-5 records and three points apiece.

The highlight of Tuesday’s 32-6A boys action was an intense, 2-1 penalty-kick victory by Rivera over Hanna that allowed the Raiders to draw just a little closer to Los Fresnos and Hanna in the standings.

Rivera’s 5:30 p.m. game today at Los Fresnos figures to highlight the action for the 32-6A boys.

It’s much the same story in the 32-6A girls race, where Harlingen High leads the way with a 5-1 record and 15 points. Harlingen South is in second place at 4-2 with 12 points.

Rounding out the 32-6A girls standings, it’s Rivera (3-3, 10 points), Los Fresnos (3-3, nine points), Hanna (3-3, eight points) and San Benito (0-6, no points).

The Lady Cardinals are coming off Tuesday’s 7-0 win over San Benito. Hanna’s girls edged Rivera 3-2 in PKs, and Los Fresnos shut out the Lady Hawks 1-0.

Harlingen High is at Hanna at 7:30 p.m. today in what proves to be an interesting district girls matchup.

“In our district, every game counts,” Lady Cards coach Debra Galvan said. “We have four more hard games, so although we are excited we are in the lead by one game, we know winning is crucial to staying in first.

“We are taking it one game at a time and focusing on each team we have next,” Galvan added. “We set a goal of winning district before the season started, and we won’t be able to celebrate reaching that goal until all the (32-6A) games are done.”

32-5A UPDATE

The Brownsville Porter Cowgirls continue to lead the District 32-5A girls race with an 8-1 record and 23 points. Brownsville Veterans Memorial and Brownsville Lopez are tied for second place. Lopez is 6-3 with 18 points, and Brownsville Veterans is 7-2 with 18 points.

Rounding out the 32-5A girls standings, it’s Pace (5-4, 16 points), Edcouch-Elsa (5-3, 15 points), Valley View (4-4, 13 points), Donna High (1-8, five points) and Mercedes (0-9, no points).

For the 32-5A boys, Valley View and Brownsville Veterans share the lead as each team is 8-1 with 24 points.

Lopez is in third place at 6-3 with 25 points, and Porter is also in third place at 5-4 with 17 points.

Rounding out the 32-5A boys standings, it’s Donna High (5-4, 13 points), Pace (3-6, nine points), Mercedes (1-8, three points) and E-E (0-9, one point).

If things continue on course, the showdown between the Tigers and Chargers for the 32-5A boys championship is scheduled at 7:30 p.m. next Tuesday at Brownsville Veterans.

By ROY HESS, Staff Writer

Another softball season is underway, and the Harlingen South Lady Hawks are off to another successful start.

Elias Martinez’s Lady Hawks already boast a 4-1 record, including last week’s 4-2 win at home against Weslaco High.

“We’re playing about the way I thought we would be playing,” Martinez said. “Right now, we’re just concentrating on making the routine play and things like that. We’ll get better. I know we will.”

Martinez said his top players at this point of the season include Iliana Saucedo, Alexa Saucedo, Kayla Rogers, Kytana Muniz, Kelsey Rivera, Christina Arellano, Alyssa Ledesma and Kiley Ruiz.

The Lady Hawks play in a tournament in Laredo later this week and go to another tournament in Corpus Christi the following weekend.

MOTIVATING WIN

The Brownsville Hanna Lady Golden Eagles captured a 6-1 non-district softball victory on the road against Edinburg High on Tuesday.

The Lady Eagles are relying on a combination of experience and youth this season.

“The girls have a great attitude and are working hard to improve every day,” Hanna coach Greg “Boomer” Larson said. “We are very young with three freshmen starting in the infield, but we have a great senior leader in D.D. Guerrero. Against Edinburg High, Camila Magaldi, our pitcher, had 13 strikeouts. Catcher Jessica Zamudio had four hits, and D.D. had three hits.”

The Lady Eagles play in the La Joya Tournament later this week.

ROUND ROBIN

The Los Fresnos-Port Isabel Tournament will be held this weekend.

The round-robin event that begins today and ends Saturday includes the host teams, along with East Valley teams Brownsville Pace, Brownsville Rivera, Lyford and Rio Hondo. Other Valley teams schedule to appear are Hidalgo and Sharyland High. Out-of-Valley teams include Devine and Sinton.

By ROY HESS, Staff Writer

A handful of Cameron County boys basketball teams have advanced to the area round of the state playoffs.

They include the Los Fresnos Falcons (31-1), the top-ranked team in the Rio Grande Valley.

The District 32-6A champion Falcons won their Class 6A bi-district matchup Monday with a 68-49 triumph at District 31-6A fourth-place Edinburg North.

The Falcons outscored the Cougars during every quarter.

Ricky Altamirano, Elian Gonzalez, Luis Gonzalez and Antonio Aldrighetti scored 14, 13, 11 and 10 points, respectively, for Los Fresnos.

“Our guys played well,” said Los Fresnos coach Marco Hinojosa, whose teams have captured six straight District 32-6A championships. “I thought they did a good job defensively, and they did a good job of keeping their composure when Edinburg North its runs.”

The Falcons next go against District 29-6A runner-up Laredo Alexander at 7 p.m. Friday in Rio Grande City during the area round.

The winner pays Edinburg Vela or Laredo Nixon next week for a chance to advance to the Region IV-6A Tournament the following weekend.

For those Cameron County teams still alive in the playoffs, it’s Brownsville Veterans Memorial vs. Corpus Christi Veterans at 7 p.m. today at Falfurrias in 5A, and Port Isabel vs. Devine at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Calallen in Class 4A.

Also, in sub-4A matchups Friday, it’s Santa Rosa vs. Mathis at 7 p.m. at Corpus Christi Ray in 3A, and in Class 2A, it’s Santa Maria vs. Flatonia at 6 p.m. at Gregory-Portland and San Perlita vs. Falls City at 7 p.m. at Tuloso-Midway.

By ROY HESS, Staff Writer

One of the biggest surprises from the first half of the District 32-6A boys soccer race is the standout play of the Los Fresnos Falcons.

The first half of the six-team district ended last week and resumes with doubleheaders Tuesday, with the boys playing at 5:30 p.m. and the girls to follow at 7:30 p.m.

Los Fresnos shares the 32-6A boys lead with Brownsville Hanna. Both are 4-1 with 12 points.

After the Falcons and Golden Eagles in the district standings, it’s San Benito (2-3, six points), Brownsville Rivera (2-3, six points), Harlingen South (1-4, three points) and Harlingen High (1-4, three points).

The Falcons own wins against South (1-0), Rivera (3-2), Harlingen High (3-2) and San Benito (2-0).

The only loss for the Falcons during the first half was a 4-2 setback against Hanna.

“What I like about my team so far this year is we are finding ways to win games,” Falcons coach Michael Miller said. “We are in position to fight for a district title, scoring goals in every game.”

Team captains for Los Fresnos are Obed Sepulveda and Jose Casanova. Other top players for the Falcons are Angel Macillas and Thomas Sauceda. District goal leaders for the Falcons are Sepulveda and Dante Esqueda with three apiece.

The Falcons play at 5:30 p.m. at South to open the second round of district.

The second half will be competitive, I believe,” Miller said. “I believe every (first-half) game but one has been decided by two goals or less. For us, we need to play one game at a time. Any team can beat anyone else, so we need to start by being prepared for Harlingen South next Tuesday.

32-6A UPDATE

The 32-6A race for girls is just as close as for the boys.

Harlingen High and Harlingen South are the leaders with 4-1 records and 12 points each.

Behind the Lady Cardinals and Lady Hawks in the district standings are Rivera (3-2, nine points), Hanna (2-3, six points), Los Fresnos (2-3, six points) and San Benito (0-5, no points).

“It’s going to be tough and more of the same (during the second half of district),” Lady Hawks coach Omar Pedroza said. “Los Fresnos, Harlingen (High) and Hanna are very good teams.”

32-5A UPDATE

The second half of District 32-5A action begins today, The boys and girls switch doubleheader times with the girls playing at 5:30 p.m. and the boys to follow at 7:30 p.m.

It will be Brownsville Veterans Memorial at Brownsville Pace, Edcouch-Elsa at Brownsville Lopez, Valley View at Mercedes and Brownsville Porter at Donna High.

The Valley View boys now share the lead in 32-5A with Brownsville Veterans. Both teams have 6-1 records and 18 points. The Tigers are coming off Tuesday’s 3-2 upset loss at Donna High.

Rounding out the 32-5A boys standings behind the Chargers and Tigers, it’s Lopez (5-2, 14 points), Porter (4-3, 13 points), Donna High (4-3, 11 points), Mercedes (1-5, three points) and Edcouch-Elsa, 0-7, one point).

Porter is in sole possession of the lead in the 32-5A girls race. Behind Porter (6-1, 18 points) are Brownsville Veterans (6-1, 15 points), Pace (4-3, 13 points), Lopez (4-3, 12 points), Valley View (3-5, 19 points), Donna High (1-6, four points) and Mercedes (0-7, no points).

BATTLING IN 32-4A

The Brownsville IDEA Frontier Chargers are playing competitive soccer in the District 32-4A boys race behind district leader Brownsville Jubilee. Frontier, coached by Steve Martinez, is 8-2 in district and plays host to Monte Alto at 6 p.m. at Brownsville Sports Park on Field 9.

By ROY HESS, Staff Writer

It’s become pretty much a tradition for Los Fresnos to capture the district championship in boys basketball.

With a 57-39 victory Tuesday at Brownsville Rivera, the Falcons claimed the outright District 32-6A record with a 10-0 record. It was their sixth district championship in a row.

Los Fresnos, 30-3 on the season, is the Rio Grande Valley’s top-ranked team.

Falcons coach Marco Hinojosa said his players developed have high expectations long before the season begins.

“Our guys have been locked in (to doing well) since the end of last year,” Hinojosa said. “With half the starters back and the addition of freshman Gerry Martinez, the guys not only wanted that sixth title, they also wanted to be the first team to do it with an undefeated record.

“This title is just as special as all the others,” the Falcons coach added. “But if you ask me what makes this team different, it’s the guys’ attention to detail and their disciplined play on the court.”

This season’s Falcons are a team with balanced scoring. Leading the way with double-digit scoring averages are Ricky Altamirano (16.2), Martinez (16.1), Elian Gonzalez (13.1) and Luis Gonzalez (12.3). All are seniors but the freshman Martinez.

“I think our players being committed in the offseason, with all the work they invest, and the stability in my assistants is what has carried the teams every year,” Hinojosa said. “Coach (Enrique) Hernandez has been with me all seven years and six titles. Coach (Alex) Lucio has been here four years now.

“We all work together well and bring something to the table,” Hinojosa added. “I would say we have all grown as coaches just by working together.”

The Falcons go against District 31-6A fourth-place Edinburg North in the Class 6A bi-district playoffs. The game is scheduled at 7 p.m. Monday at North.

OTHER 32-6A QUALIFIERS

The other three teams from 32-6A in the bi-district playoffs are district runner-up Harlingen High, third-place Harlingen South and fourth-place San Benito.

Also playing at 7 p.m. Monday is San Benito at Edinburg Vela. On Tuesday, it’s Weslaco High at Harlingen South at 7 p.m., and Harlingen High at Edinburg High at 7:30 p.m.

32-5A UPDATE

Brownsville Veterans Memorial finished as the District 32-5A champion with a 13-1 conference mark, and Brownsville Pace wound up as the 32-5A runner-up with a 12-2 record.

Both have Class 5A bi-district games scheduled at home at 7 p.m. Tuesday as Brownsville Veterans plays host to La Joya Palmview, and Mission Veterans Memorial comes to Pace.

Regarding the other two playoff teams from 32-5A, fourth-place Mercedes is at District 31-5A champion Sharyland Pioneer at 7 p.m. Monday, and 32-5A third-place Donna High is at home against PSJA Memorial at 7 p.m. Tuesday.

32-3A SHOWDOWN

Brownsville Jubilee defeated traditional Valley power Santa Rosa 77-60 on Tuesday to earn a district co-championship with the Warriors. The teams finished league play with 17-1 records.

The teams both advance to next week’s Class 3A bi-district playoffs with Jubilee facing San Diego at 6 p.m. Monday. Santa Rosa faces Falfurrias at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at Sharyland Pioneer.

32-4A UPDATE

Besides District 32-4A champion Hidalgo, two other area teams from 32-4A also qualified for the Class 4A bi-district playoffs. They are Port Isabel and Rio Hondo.

Port Isabel plays Kingsville King at 7 p.m. Monday at Edcouch-Elsa and Rio Hondo takes on Sinton at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Harlingen High.

Zapata also qualified from 32-4A.

By ROY HESS, Staff Writer

After one round of the girls basketball playoffs, two Brownsville teams are still alive.

They are Brownsville Veterans Memorial in Class 5A and Brownsville Jubilee in Class 3A.

Both teams play on the road for their area-round games today.

District 32-5A champion Brownsville Veterans (30-5) takes on District 30-5A third-place Victoria East (26-9) at 8 p.m. at Texas A&M-Kingsville. District 32-3A champion Jubilee (24-9) goes against District 29-3A runner-up Aransas Pass (22-9) at 6 p.m at H.M. King High School in Kingsville.

The Lady Chargers are coming off a 61-39 bi-district victory against PSJA Memorial.

“What stood out to me (about our bi-district win) was our defensive effort,” Lady Chargers coach Arnold Torres said. “We did a great job helping in the low post, as well as our defensive rotation on penetration. We also did a good job of scoring transition points when they became available.

“Victoria East, our next opponent, is quick and very athletic with presence on the inside,” Torres added. “I feel that we match up well, and the team that can minimize its mistakes will take the victory. I am excited for our girls and this opportunity.”

Jubilee is excited as well about its next game after defeating San Diego 63-32 on bi-district.

The Lady Titans are playing their first school year in UIL after coming over from charter school competition.

“I think this (bi-district) win gives the girls more confidence because now they know what to expect at the UIL playoffs level,” Jubilee coach Victor Venegas said. “This was a huge win for us and our school because no one gave us a chance. But our girls believe in themselves and they know how to compete against anyone now.”

32-6A UPDATE

Two of four District 32-6A girls teams playing in the Class 6A bi-district playoffs were victorious earlier this week.

District 32-6A champion Harlingen High (31-7) routed Donna North 68-15, and 32-6A No. 2 seed Los Fresnos (23-14) defeated Edinburg Vela 48-37.

The two 32-6A teams that were eliminated were Harlingen South, 54-43 by Weslaco High, and Brownsville Hanna, 65-37 by Edinburg High.

The Lady Cardinals and Lady Falcons now move on to today’s area round.

Harlingen High takes on District 29-6A runner-up Laredo United South (13-12) at 7 p.m. at Rio Grande City. The Lady Falcons go against District 29-6A champion Laredo United at 7 p.m. at Corpus Christi Ray.

Today’s winners advance to next week’s third round of the playoffs.

OTHER GAMES

In other second-round games involving area teams, Lyford played Odem in a Class 3A game Thursday in Alice. In Class 2A matchups today, Santa Maria plays Shiner at 6 p.m. in Corpus Christi and San Perlita goes against Weimar at 7 p.m. at Taft.

By ROY HESS, Staff Writer

BROWNSVILLE — The Edinburg High Lady Bobcats cruised into the second round of the Class 6A girls basketball playoffs with a 65-37 bi-district victory Tuesday at Brownsville Hanna.

The District 31-6A co-champion Lady Bobcats improved to 35-3 on the season. Edinburg High is the No.1-ranked team in the Rio Grande Valley.

Edinburg High faces Laredo Alexander or PSJA North in the area round of the playoffs later this week.

“I thought our girls did a great job early on in the game (of getting a big lead),” Lady Bobcats coach J.D. Salinas said. “(But) credit goes to Hanna for applying pressure in the second half with their 1-2-2 (defense) and their trapping on the sidelines. It threw us off a little bit. We were able to adjust and continue to play (well) in the second half.

“We started off playing quick, getting the ball out in transition and taking some good shots (in building an 18-0 lead),” Salinas added. “We did well getting the ball to the open shooters. Then I think our girls started to slow down a little. We didn’t press or do a lot of those things that we could have done. When we started playing a little more lax (during the second half), we allowed Hanna to start playing with a little more momentum. But at the end of the day, our girls did a great job, including the ones coming off the bench, in helping us get this win.

“Now we move on to the second round of the playoffs. We look forward to our next opponent. Every playoff win, like tonight’s, is precious.”

Edinburg High won at home 52-42 against Weslaco High last Friday to earn the No. 1 seed from 31-6A for the playoffs. Both teams finished 11-1 in district, thus the seeding game was played.

The Lady Golden Eagles, fourth-place finishers from District 32-6A, ended the season with an 18-18 record.

“I’m proud of the girls’ effort throughout the season, especially tonight,” Hanna coach Luis Gonzalez said. “The start was a little rough for us, but our girls continued to fight until the end.

“We will have a great offseason and be ready for next season,” Gonzalez added. “I’ll be returning 10 of my 12 players next season.”

Yazmin Rucoba led Hanna on Tuesday with 11 points, including one 3-pointer. Teammates Annie Bustos, Samantha Ramos and Alexis Alvarez added six, six and five points, respectively.

Leslie Martinez, Daysha Tijerina and Brianna Sanchez scored 19, 14 and 10 points, respectively, for Edinburg High. Martinez and Tijerina each hit a pair of 3-pointers.

The Lady Bobcats led 26-4 after one quarter, 39-15 at halftime and 53-26 after three periods.

By ROY HESS, Staff Writer

The Brownsville Veterans Memorial Chargers now know the comfort of sitting in the driver’s seat of the District 32-5A boys basketball race after winning at home 65-61 Friday against the Pace Vikings.

The Vikings outscored the home team during each of the first two quarters, and the squads each tallied 16 points in the third period as Pace took a 45-41 edge into the final stanza.

The Chargers outpointed the visitors 24-16 during the last quarter to pull away for the four-point win that clinched a share of the 32-5A title.

The Vikings fell behind late and were forced to foul. The Chargers’ Matthew Maddox sank back-to-back free throws with 20.4 seconds remaining to make it 65-61.

Even though the Chargers missed two free throws after that, the final outcome was not affected.

The teams came into the contest tied for first place with 11-1 district records, and each squad has one road game remaining on its 32-5A schedule next Tuesday as the regular season comes to a close. Brownsville Veterans is at Donna High, and Pace is at Edcouch-Elsa.

“I think the difference between this game and the last one we played against them (during the first round of district on Jan. 21 when Pace won 68-57) was we didn’t give up this time,” Brownsville Veterans coach Larry Gibson said. “We played hard to the end. That was our motto the whole way. We were going to make sure we didn’t leave anything on the floor.”

Regarding the Chargers’ final district game at Donna High next week, Gibson said, “Yes, we got a share of the title (by defeating Pace), but I don’t like to share anything. I want us to win it all. We’re going to go all out on Tuesday and try to have the title all to ourselves.”

Pace coach Jose Luis Ramirez said his team gave a supreme effort.

“I’m very proud of our team,” Ramirez said. “Our guys gave 100 percent effort, and that’s all you can ask. It was a great game between two very good teams, and someone had to lose.”

Pace led 16-15 after one quarter and was up 29-25 at halftime.

The Vikings held their biggest lead of five points twice, but the Chargers just wouldn’t go away. The Vikings went up 16-11 late in the first quarter on a 3-pointer and led by five again, 48-43, with 7:17 showing in the fourth period when Cristian Guajardo scored on a drive, was fouled and completed a three-point play.

Guajardo, a sophomore point guard, was on fire the entire game as he scored 35 points, including three 3-pointers. He tallied all of Pace’s 16 points during the final period. Teammate Elias Fortaneli was the only other Pace player scoring in double figures. He finished with 13 points, including a pair of 3-pointers.

For the Chargers, Kelly Davis, Maddox and Damian Maldonado scored 22, 17 and 10 points, respectively. Maldonado hit one 3-pointer.

“This feels great,” said Davis, a senior guard. “Last year we won the district title and now we got it back, so it feels great. It’s awesome.

“I think the difference in this game was heart,” Davis added. “Our team has a lot of heart, and we never give up. Everyone got to see that right here in the fourth quarter.”