By ADAM KUJAWSKI, Staff Writer
The final game of the District 32-6A season was also parents night at Brownsville Veterans Memorial, and the Chargers provided the home crowd with a win before they begin their playoff run.
Brownsville Veterans (20-12, 9-5 in district) wrapped up the regular season with a 59-48 win over the Rivera Raiders (12-18, 4-10) on Tuesday and will look ahead to the postseason after finishing fourth in the district.
Despite scoring 24 points during the first half and trailing the Raiders, the Chargers gradually improved as the game progressed.
Once Brownsville Veterans passed Rivera early in the third quarter on an Alex Marquez layup, and they didn’t look back.
“We tried to play everybody because it was parents night, and we really didn’t get our rhythm going until the first quarter,” Brownsville Veterans coach Larry Gibson said. “Once the fourth quarter started we really got our rhythm going and started playing good as a team.”
The Raiders did put forth an effort to come back, scoring seven points during the final 1:40 of the third to remain within three points. They then pulled to within one on a Nico Blanco basket early in the fourth.
However, Brownsville Veterans’ offense was at its most efficient after the Blanco putback layup. The Chargers proceeded to score 13 points during the next three minutes, and despite Rivera remaining close, Manny Perez scored six straight points to clinch the victory for Brownsville Veterans.
“We had some turnovers and missed some shots here and there,” Rivera coach Saul Villarreal said. “We didn’t rebound as well as we wanted to. A couple of times they took second and third shots that hurt us.”
The Raiders jumped out to a quick start to the game and led the Chargers after the first and second quarters but failed to sustain the lead.
The Raiders made two early layups to take a 4-0 lead, and Brownsville Veterans didn’t collect its first basket until the 4:48 mark in the first.
However, they strung together six more points the remainder of the quarter and trailed Rivera by just two at 10-8 after the end of the opening period.
The Chargers opened the second with five quick points but stalled for several minutes. The Raiders seized the drought and netted nine points to carry a 26-24 lead into the half.
A trio of players scored 14 points to tie for the lead. Jeremiah Meyers and Marquez had 14 for Brownsville Veterans, and Chris Vasquez had 14 for Rivera. Blanco was the Raiders’ second-leading scorer with 10.
Adam Kujawski covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him at (956) 982-6663 or via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @adamkujo1.