By JOSHUA McKINNEY, Staff Writer
Brownsville Veterans Memorial’s playmakers helped their team put a foul-heavy start to the game behind the Chargers for another District 32-6A win.
Brownsville Veterans beat Hanna 51-35 on Tuesday at Hanna to start the second round of District 32-6A games.
Aaron Villarreal, Brownsville Veterans’ junior point guard, led the Chargers (25-3, 7-1) with a 21-point performance against Hanna (10-16, 4-4). Kevin Gomez scored nine points and added five rebounds and five assists, and Jeremiah Meyers came off the bench to score six points.
“All three of them had great games,” Brownsville Veterans coach Larry Gibson said. “Kevin (Gomez) was our leading rebounder. He did a hell of a job on the board. Every clutch rebound we needed, he got. Jeremiah (Meyers) played like the Jeremiah we know. He attacked the basket a couple of times down the stretch and did a good job. But Aaron (Villarreal) played an all-around the court game. We didn’t take him out until a minute left in the game. He did a hell of a job.”
The Chargers committed eight fouls during the first quarter, which allowed the Golden Eagles to stay close early.
Eduardo Trevino hit one from the charity stripe and Noah Armstrong added three more free throws to give Hanna its first lead at 11-9 with 35.1 left in the first.
Villarreal scored on the last possession of the quarter to tie the game at 11.
Those early fouls didn’t affect Brownsville Veterans’ play any during the second quarter. Brownsville Veterans opened the quarter on a 5-0 run, scoring 16 points in the period to take a 27-19 lead over Hanna.
“Whether it’s a slow start or an early start, we’re just going to keep playing our game,” Villarreal said. “Like coach said, we just need to go out there and play Charger Ball. That’s what we come to do. So whether we play good or we’re playing bad, we’re still going to play our game.”
Brownsville Veterans’ defense played its part in keeping Hanna’s offense out of rhythm by forcing seven turnovers in the second.
Hanna pulled within five points of the Chargers’ lead toward the end of the third quarter, but Villarreal hit a 3 and Meyers drove the lane to score and give his team a 39-29 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
Team depth — Brownsville Veterans’ bench scored 13 points — and constant pressing from the defense took its toll on Hanna. The Golden Eagles only scored six points in the fourth.
“I thought it was a good game for three quarters,” Brownsville Veterans coach Larry Gibson said. “Our depth wore them down in the end. We had a lot of pressure on them, and after four quarters they didn’t have any legs under them. We took it to them in the fourth quarter.”
Hanna was missing its leading scorer, Gabe Martinez, due to injury.
Andy Lopez led Hanna with 10 points and also grabbed five rebounds in the game. Jaime Rucoba had eight points and a team-leading seven rebounds.
“Maybe we didn’t have as much firepower without Gabe (Martinez) out there, and it messed our rotation up a little bit,” Hanna coach Todd Barckholtz said. “We stopped moving, and started stressing and pressing a bit.”
Joshua McKinney writes for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him at (956) 982-6663 or via email at [email protected]. On Twitter, he’s @joshuabvherald.