By CLAIRE CRUZ, Staff Writer
The Brownsville Veterans Memorial Chargers held off a tenacious Brownsville Rivera squad to claim a 46-40 victory in a competitive non-district contest Saturday.
“It was good to see because lately we’ve been struggling on finishing out second halves,” Chargers coach Albert Briones said. “We just got to be more disciplined. When we have control of the game, we got to keep it. … We were the aggressor a little bit more, but we still need a lot of work.”
Brownsville Veterans took a 14-5 lead during the first quarter behind crisp ball movement that opened up the paint. The Chargers used their size and physicality under the basket to bring down a plethora of rebounds, anchored by Alex Ocampo and Pablo Castaneda, who scored six of his 10 points in the opening frame.
“We emphasize we have to get inside touches,” Briones said. “We finally started getting some touches in the mid-post, high post and the short corners, and it opened up the game a little, better looks. We just didn’t shoot the 3-ball well today, and it hurt us.”
The Chargers’ defense gave Rivera fits, keeping the Raiders from executing in a half-court set. Instead, they threw up contested shots that bounced off the rim. Ramsey Rocha scored the only Rivera points during the first quarter.
Campy Rodriguez contributed immediately off the bench to keep Brownsville Veterans’ momentum rolling in the second quarter. Rodriguez, Rodrigo Castaneda and Kenny Davis played well to force a Rivera timeout.
Then, Rivera’s defense took over. Alek Guzman, Rafael Smith and Enrique Lozano led an effective Raiders defense that forced the Chargers to rush and get sloppy. Rivera forced several turnovers with its full-court press, but it couldn’t finish at the basket. Irineo Acevedo battled BVM’s size in the paint and increased his rebounding efficiency.
Rivera’s big three of Rocha, Acevedo and Guzman got going during the third quarter. The Raiders leaned on a stellar defensive performance in the frame, forcing the Chargers to commit turnovers and take poor shots that were cleaned up by Acevedo and Sebastian Mejia.
As the rebounding improved, so did the offense — Rivera outscored Brownsville Veterans 14-9 in the third and got within two points of the lead.
“A lot of defense, a lot of boxing out,” Rivera coach Jesus Alvarez said. “We were trying to pick up the intensity and convert off those turnovers. We created turnovers but we couldn’t finish. Missed a lot of layups and free throws, and we’re not going to win ball games like that. Kids played hard. They left it on the floor, and we gotta be proud.”
Davis and Oscar Anzaldua came up big for the Chargers during the final frame to hold on to the victory. Brownsville Veterans settled back down and passed the ball well to create scoring opportunities. Anzaldua’s energetic playing style benefited his team on both ends of the court, and he scored all five of his points in the fourth to open the lead back up.
Again, the Raiders’ defense made things tight during the final two minutes. The full-court press forced a five-second violation on a Chargers inbounds attempt, then Rocha and Smith pulled down rebounds and made clutch shots consecutively to cut the deficit to 43-40.
Davis (10 points) and Pablo Castaneda (10 points) secured the win in the final minute. The big duo, along with Nick Fuentes, locked down the paint and pulled down rebounds to keep Rivera from getting extra chances after missing rushed shots.
“(Davis) stepped up really well,” Briones said. “He’s been in and out of the starting lineup, but whether he starts or comes off the bench he needs to be that catalyst.
“If we miss shots, he has to be the guy with offensive rebounds and putbacks. There at the end they were beating us to the boards … so we needed more inside presence on both ends, and when he did get set up, he got some big-time boards that we needed.”