By TJ GARCIA | Special to the Monitor
PHARR — Brownsville Veterans Memorial came into the PSJA Tri-City Classic ranked as the best Class 6A team in the Valley.
On Saturday, the Chargers showed they deserve that lofty status with a 74-71 double overtime victory over District 32-6A rival Harlingen South in the championship game of the tournament at PSJA North.
Aaron Villarreal, who was named the tournament’s MVP, led the Chargers with 20 points, and Alex Marquez added 18 in a tense tilt, as Brownsville Veterans improved to 17-2 after winning six in a row during the weekend tournament.
“I saw some good resiliency from us,” Brownsville Veterans coach Larry Gibson said. “It’s tough to play six games like this, but we just had a little more stamina than they did, that’s all it was. We are 10 strong, and I keep selling our kids on that.”
But the Chargers’ final victory was precarious with a plucky Hawks squad that would not go away. After getting behind by as many as eight during the fourth quarter, South’s Noah Perez drained a buzzer-beating, mid-court heave to send the game into overtime tied at 61.
During the first overtime, South jumped out to a 65-61 advantage on two free throws and a bucket from Luke Bradford at the 2:27 mark. Then, Brownsville Veterans took its turn with Villarreal’s old-fashioned three-point play, evening the game at 65. Veterans possessed the ball last and played for a final shot, but ended up turning the ball over as time expired.
The second overtime started out just as tight, and South appeared to catch a break when Villarreal fouled out with 1:54 left. But Erik Saldana (11 points) quickly filled that void by knocking down two layups, and Martin Martinez added four more points of his own.
“That’s what I like about this team,” said Villarreal, the junior guard. “When one soldier goes down another comes in and steps up at big moments.”
South could not keep up with Brownsville Veterans, but never gave up. Darian Thukie closed out the Chargers’ scoring with a free throw to make it 74-68. South came back with another long 3 from Perez to get within three with 8.7 seconds left. But it could do no more, and the Chargers, ranked No. 23 by the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches, simply ran out the clock.
Hawks coach Brian Molina said he was satisfied with his team’s energy and play on the court despite dropping the finale.
“We grew up a little bit,” Molina said. “I’m happy with our effort. We got to play a lot games. We got to see some great situations. We got a lot of experience from this tournament. It’s a first class tourney and we like coming here.”
South’s Bradford led all scorers with 32 points, and Aaron Briones added 17 for the Hawks.