By ROY HESS, Staff Writer
The Brownsville Veterans Memorial Chargers now know the comfort of sitting in the driver’s seat of the District 32-5A boys basketball race after winning at home 65-61 Friday against the Pace Vikings.
The Vikings outscored the home team during each of the first two quarters, and the squads each tallied 16 points in the third period as Pace took a 45-41 edge into the final stanza.
The Chargers outpointed the visitors 24-16 during the last quarter to pull away for the four-point win that clinched a share of the 32-5A title.
The Vikings fell behind late and were forced to foul. The Chargers’ Matthew Maddox sank back-to-back free throws with 20.4 seconds remaining to make it 65-61.
Even though the Chargers missed two free throws after that, the final outcome was not affected.
The teams came into the contest tied for first place with 11-1 district records, and each squad has one road game remaining on its 32-5A schedule next Tuesday as the regular season comes to a close. Brownsville Veterans is at Donna High, and Pace is at Edcouch-Elsa.
“I think the difference between this game and the last one we played against them (during the first round of district on Jan. 21 when Pace won 68-57) was we didn’t give up this time,” Brownsville Veterans coach Larry Gibson said. “We played hard to the end. That was our motto the whole way. We were going to make sure we didn’t leave anything on the floor.”
Regarding the Chargers’ final district game at Donna High next week, Gibson said, “Yes, we got a share of the title (by defeating Pace), but I don’t like to share anything. I want us to win it all. We’re going to go all out on Tuesday and try to have the title all to ourselves.”
Pace coach Jose Luis Ramirez said his team gave a supreme effort.
“I’m very proud of our team,” Ramirez said. “Our guys gave 100 percent effort, and that’s all you can ask. It was a great game between two very good teams, and someone had to lose.”
Pace led 16-15 after one quarter and was up 29-25 at halftime.
The Vikings held their biggest lead of five points twice, but the Chargers just wouldn’t go away. The Vikings went up 16-11 late in the first quarter on a 3-pointer and led by five again, 48-43, with 7:17 showing in the fourth period when Cristian Guajardo scored on a drive, was fouled and completed a three-point play.
Guajardo, a sophomore point guard, was on fire the entire game as he scored 35 points, including three 3-pointers. He tallied all of Pace’s 16 points during the final period. Teammate Elias Fortaneli was the only other Pace player scoring in double figures. He finished with 13 points, including a pair of 3-pointers.
For the Chargers, Kelly Davis, Maddox and Damian Maldonado scored 22, 17 and 10 points, respectively. Maldonado hit one 3-pointer.
“This feels great,” said Davis, a senior guard. “Last year we won the district title and now we got it back, so it feels great. It’s awesome.
“I think the difference in this game was heart,” Davis added. “Our team has a lot of heart, and we never give up. Everyone got to see that right here in the fourth quarter.”