By ROY HESS | The Brownsville Herald
Different offensive styles of basketball come and go, but playing solid defense never gets old.
The Brownsville Veterans Memorial Chargers displayed their defensive skills Tuesday during a 48-37 non-district victory against the Rio Grande City Rattlers on the Chargers’ home court.
The victory improved Brownsville Veterans to 7-2 on the young season. The Rattlers, who have yet to play in a tournament, evened their record at 1-1.
There were two differing viewpoints regarding the game and what transpired.
Rio Grande City coach Juan Aldape said his team shot very poorly, especially at the beginning of the game. Brownsville Veterans coach Larry Gibson said his team played super defense.
The truth of the matter was probably somewhere in between. Either way, the Rattlers managed only 37 points and were stuck on having only three points until the final minute of the first quarter, which ended 10-6 in the Chargers’ favor.
“Without a doubt, it was our defense (that stood out),” Gibson said. “The last game they played (and won), Rio Grande City scored 77 points. I just thought we played excellent defense. We still didn’t shoot the ball all that well, and we missed too many easy shots, but we did play well on defense.
“We tell our players that if they can play (solid) defense, they can be in any game,” Gibson added. “Rio Grande City is a very good team. I think we just wore them down in the fourth quarter (with our defensive pressure). I think we’re a very good team, too. If we can keep other teams close, I think we can wear them down (and win).”
Leading 10-6 after one quarter, the Chargers went up 19-16 by halftime before taking a 34-30 edge into the final quarter.
It was not at all a good start for the Rattlers.
“We shot the ball just horrible,” Aldape said. “We couldn’t hit the basket. I think we might have shot something like 3-for-30 with our 3-point attempts today.
“It also hurt us that this was only our second game (of the season),” Aldape added. “We haven’t played a tournament, and we had just one game last week, so the (team) chemistry is not there yet, and we’re not jelling like we should be right now.
“My hat is off to Brownsville (Veterans). Their guys play hard, and they don’t give up, either.”
Rio Grande City outscored the Chargers 10-2 to start the third quarter to take its biggest lead of five points, 26-21, when Aaron Marroquin scored on a drive down the lane at the 5:08 mark of the period.
The Chargers came on strong near the end of the third quarter and regained the lead to take a 34-30 advantage into the final eight minutes.
Brownsville Veterans was up by double digits during the final three minutes of the game. The Chargers’ largest lead of 13 points, 48-35, came with 1:34 left when Kelly Davis scored an uncontested basket from underneath thanks to a quick pass inside by a teammate.
A pair of free throws by the Rattlers’ Jaime Covarrubias with 1:21 to play accounted for the final score and 11-point win for the Chargers.
Brownsville Veterans was led by Justin Anaya’s 12 points that included three 3-pointers. Teammates Damian Maldonado and Mathew Maddox added 10 and eight points, respectively, with Maddox making a pair of 3-pointers.
Marroquin was the only player for the Rattlers to score in double figures. He had 14 points. Covarrubias came next with eight points, including one 3-pointer.
Brownsville Veterans next plays at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at Rivera. Rio Grande City next plays in the Mission Tournament on Friday.
Before he left the gym for home, Gibson said he wanted to pass along a positive holiday message.
“My team is jelling (so I’m happy), and I’d like to wish all the people in Brownsville and the whole, wide world a happy Thanksgiving,” the Chargers coach said with a smile.
Roy Hess covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @HessRgehess