By JOSHUA McKINNEY, Staff Writer
Brownsville Veterans Memorial’s two strengths this season are depth and defense, and those two things gave the boys Class 6A 22nd-ranked Chargers an edge in their District 32-6A opener.
Eight different players scored for the Chargers during their 60-35 home win against Hanna on Saturday. It’s this type of deep team play that defines what Brownsville Veterans coach Larry Gibson calls “Charger Ball” and makes this team one of the top teams in the Rio Grande Valley.
“We play as a team,” Gibson said. “We don’t have any superstars on this team. I don’t think we have anybody in the top 10 scoring or rebounding, but I think this is the best team I’ve ever had. I wouldn’t say they’re the best athletes (I’ve had), but this group plays so good as a team. We play nine or 10 deep, and they all fit in and they like each other. That’s the thing that’s good about them. They like each other and they play well together.”
Aaron Villarreal and Kevin Gomez led Brownsville Veterans (19-2, 1-0) with 12 points each, and both players grabbed six rebounds. But the difference maker for the Chargers, Gibson said, was strong play on the defensive end
The catalyst for the Chargers’ tenacious defense was Darian Thuku, who gave a superstar effort as a stopper.
Thuku usually gets the task of shutting down the opponent’s best scorers, and he performed it exceptionally well against Hanna. He had five steals in the game, a team leading nine rebounds and seven points.
“It’s his job,” Gibson said. “We consider him the best defensive player in the Valley. He does a good job. We put him on the other team’s best player (Gabe Martinez) and I thought he did a good job. We believe in him, and we believe in his defense. He doesn’t score much, but whatever he gets we’ll take. We want him to play defense, and he does an excellent job.”
“I like being the defensive leader because my team looks up to me when we need defense the most,” Thuku said. “I’m going to do as much as I can to help us play defensively, and it carries us through. I know if I play defense well, everyone else is going to play defense, too.”
Brownsville Veterans started the first quarter with five quick points and held the Golden Eagles scoreless until 3:40 remained in the first.
Hanna’s offense found a spark and went on a seven-point run to carry momentum and a 9-7 lead with just seconds left in the quarter.
But the Chargers had enough time for one last possession.
Erick Saldana received an inbounds pass from Hanna’s baseline with seconds left and drove quickly to his scoring end. Saldana launched the ball 50 feet from the basket and drained the shot, tying the game at 9 heading into the second quarter.
“It built up our momentum,” Thuku said. “It told us that we’re still in this game and we got this one.”
The ballgame belonged to the Chargers from that point, with Villarreal scoring five points to lead Brownsville Veterans’ seven-point streak to separate from the Eagles.
“It helped us from going into the (break) on a down note and (coming) back out on an up note,” Gibson said. “It got them fired up and I think helped us get into the second half.”
The Chargers took a 19-point lead at halftime and scored 19 more during the third quarter to make the score 44-26 at the start of the final quarter.
Hanna is looking to get ready for its next district tilt, a home game against Lopez on Tuesday.
“We played 32 more minutes, we got the players some more playing time and we’re getting ready for Tuesday (against Lopez),” Hanna coach Todd Barckholtz said.
Martinez finished as Hanna’s top scorer with nine points. Jaime Rucoloa finished with a game-high 15 rebounds for Hanna (6-13, 0-1).
Joshua McKinney covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him at (956) 982-6663 or via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @joshuabvherald.