BY NATE KOTISSO | STAFF WRITER
MISSION — There was quite a size difference when Hidalgo and Mission Veterans took the floor. The Pirates had plenty of it; the Patriots made do with what they had.
Mission Veterans coach Rafael Cantu Jr. implored his team early to be physical in the paint and they succeeded in the first half. The Patriots headed to the locker room with a two-point lead.
The Pirates, however, were able to re-establish their post game in the second half, which in turn, allowed the long-range shots to fall. Thanks to its 46 second-half points, Hidalgo (14-3) defeated Mission Veterans 68-59 on the road Tuesday night.
“When we struggled, I didn’t think it was them (Mission Veterans). It was us,” Hidalgo coach Saul Arjona said. “We were off mentally. We weren’t making shots and we were getting frustrated with ourselves. We thought if we could stop their girls from shooting, we’d be all right.”
A big piece of the Pirates’ second-half surge was junior forward/guard Carolina Carbajal. Arjona described Carbajal as the Pirates’ top defensive specialist. Her job was to defend Mission Veterans point guard Ronnie Cantu.
“It was tough because she was everywhere,” Carbajal said. “She’s not like any other point guard, so I had to stay with her because she can get the ball again and go without me knowing.”
Carbajal held Cantu without a field goal in the third quarter, but she mitigated Cantu’s damage to 19 points on the night. Carbajal also provided an offensive spark in the second half, scoring 10 of her 13 points. She was one of four Pirates in double-figure scoring.
“I think her main motivation is defense and she does a great job of that,” Arjona said of Carbajal. “When she stopped her (Cantu), she was asking me if she could shoot. When she plays good defense, her mentality on offense changes. I told her if she had the green light, take it. Now she feels more comfortable shooting and more into the game. She’s very unselfish because she wants to do her thing on defense and she was looking for our big girls inside.”
Hidalgo’s bigs, Barbie Gutierrez and Elisa De la Peña, combined for 25 points. Savannah Sanchez led her team with 18 points.
The Pirates opened a 10-point lead, their largest of the game, at the 4:58 mark of the fourth quarter. Mission Veterans (6-7) then sliced its deficit to four within a minute thanks to back-to-back 3-pointers by Selinda Cortez and Cantu.
On the Pirates’ next possession, Mel Salinas made a basket and was fouled by Mission Vets’ Kaylee Flores. Flores was then whistled for a technical foul, which gave Hidalgo two more free-throw attempts and another chance to score. The Pirates’ lead grew back to eight.
“Officiating doesn’t win or lose games,” Cantu said. “There were a few calls that go here and there, but in the end, it’s all a wash. When you’re playing a physical team, you’ve got to be smarter, use shot fakes, pass fakes and be crafty. We definitely learned a lot tonight in what was one of our better games.”