LA JOYA — Brownsville Hanna and La Joya High entered the fourth quarter of their Region IV-6A bi-district playoff matchup even on the scoreboard Monday night.
The Eagles pulled ahead late and fought off a furious Coyotes rally to hang on for a 53-50 victory at La Joya High School to send Hanna into the area round of the playoffs for the first time since 2015.
The Eagles (29-10, 8-2) will face the winner of San Antonio Brennan and Laredo United South in the area round. Game details are to be determined.
La Joya High, which won a share of the District 31-6A championship, ends its season at 25-13 overall.
“I think we just played great defense, we got after it and did a hell of a job. I’m happy for my boys,” Hanna head coach Fermin Lucio said.
La Joya High’s Ethan Moya had a chance to tie the game with a last second 3-point attempt that missed as time expired.
Hanna seniors Kevin Flores and Ricardo Roman Jr. combined to score 34 points and pull down 15 rebounds. Roman showed emotion with some tears after the victory.
“This win means a lot. We knew coming into the playoffs, it was going to be rough, but we stuck together as a family, as a team, and we won as a team. We’re just happy that we won,” he said.
“We all stayed together. Everybody made mistakes, but we lifted each other up and kept going hard and pulled out a win,” Flores said.
Moya led the Coyotes with a game-high 23 points, 17 of which came during the second half. He finished with seven rebounds, two steals and three blocks.
La Joya’s Jon Cortina scored all 11 of his points during the first half. Arian Quintanilla scored nine points and grabbed nine boards.
The Coyotes came out firing on all cylinders with a 15-8 lead after one quarter and four made 3-pointers during the first half.
The Eagles answered with a 17-point second quarter sparked by the mid-range game of Roman. He finished with 22 points and eight rebounds, while Flores finished with 12 and seven boards.
Hanna’s Emiliano Hernandez finished with six points, Manrique Cantu and Beto Galarza had four and Jordan Matamoros added three.