By KEVIN NARRO | Staff Writer
Brownsville Veterans Memorial coach Larry Gibson did not like how his starting five came out during the opening minutes of their game against Rivera.
Gibson pulled his starting five, as the Chargers were trailing at home to the Raiders, and the message was received loud and clear.
The Chargers responded to Gibson’s message, and after a three-point play from Damian Maldonado that gave them a lead, they never looked back. Brownsville Veterans was fueled by a 14-4 run in the second quarter that helped separate them in a 63-48 win.
“The momentum shifted in the second quarter, but I thought our kids came out flat,” Gibson said. “I don’t think we gave Rivera enough respect. They are pretty good and are going to be a good team. They are a young team with a new coach. They came to play. I pulled my starters out after the first two minutes and didn’t put them back in. I did not like the attitude they came in with.”
The Chargers trailed 18-12 after the first quarter and outscored the Raiders 20-8 during the second quarter. Lucky Edge finished with 12 points, and Damian Maldonado netted nine for the Chargers’ offense. Six of Maldonado’s points came in that key second quarter.
“I put them back in (in) the second quarter, and they turned things around and played the way they were supposed to play,” Gibson said.
The strong second quarter carried over into the third quarter, when the Chargers got hot from the floor and stormed out to a 14-0 run that pushed their lead to 43-26. The Chargers capped off the run with three straight 3s, two of them from Dax Delgado, who finished with 15 points.
Along with the hot shooting, Brownsville Veterans applied a full court press for which the Raiders did not have an answer.
“That second quarter was it right there,” Raiders coach Joel Guzman said. “They put a pretty good press on us, and we couldn’t handle it. It took us a while to get adjusted. This is only our third game of the year, but Vets is a well-coached team, hats off to them.”
The Chargers remain perfect on the young season with a 5-0 record and now hit the road for the Corpus Christi tournament, which will tip off next week. Brownsville Veterans opens tournament play with Corpus Christi Miller.
Meanwhile, the Raiders are 1-2 and will shift their focus to Edinburg High next week. Johan Galarza led the way with a game-high 15-points, and Jose Morales finished with 11 points.