By ADAM KUJAWSKI, Staff Writer
The Hanna Golden Eagles played efficient offense and capitalized on a shooting drought by the Brownsville Veterans Memorial Chargers during a 50-33 District 32-6A-opening win Saturday at Hanna.
Brownsville Veterans (11-8, 0-1 in district) began the game with some success from the floor, but that soon faded. The Chargers scored five of the game’s first seven points, and it took the Eagles nearly three minutes before they netted their first points.
Hanna (12-3, 1-0) outscored Brownsville Veterans 9-2 during the latter half of the quarter, though, and took an 11-7 lead into the second.
The Chargers’ Aaron Villarreal hit a 3-pointer to open the second quarter and teammate David Anaya knocked down a pair of free throws to give Brownsville Veterans the lead.
However, with the game tied at 15, Chargers coach Larry Gibson called a timeout with 4:23 remaining. That marked the beginning of Brownsville Veterans’ offensive woes.
The Chargers missed their next 18 of 19 shots from the floor, a stretch that didn’t end until the beginning seconds of the fourth quarter.
“We did a terrible job of shooting the ball today,” Gibson said. “We didn’t rebound well, we didn’t shoot the ball well. Any time you go a whole quarter and don’t make a shot, you can’t expect to win. I thought we were a pretty good shooting team, but we’ve got to change something.”
Alternatively, Hanna maintained its steady scoring approach. No one player was dominant, but five players had five or more points during the game.
“We had a bunch of guys that had six, eight points,” Barckholtz said. “We tell them ‘When you’re open, shoot it, and shoot it with confidence.’
During the remainder of the second quarter, after Gibson’s timeout, the Eagles scored six points on 4-of-6 shooting to take a 23-17 lead into halftime.
As the Chargers were struggling to find their touch, Hanna added 15 third-quarter points, putting the game out of reach.
Brownsville Veterans turned things around by scoring 12 fourth-quarter points, but Hanna didn’t let up and hit 5 of 6 free throws during the final two minutes.
“The longer you sit on zero (wins), the more you start thinking negative thoughts,” Barckholtz said. “We’re going to put this one in the bank and get ready for Lopez.”
Herrera led all scorers with 15 points and was followed by teammate Adrian Barron, who had eight. Villarreal led the Chargers with seven points.
Both teams will next play at 6 p.m. Tuesday. Hanna travels to Lopez, which lost 64-59 to Rivera on Saturday, and Brownsville Veterans plays host to San Benito, which defeated Harlingen High 59-42 on Saturday.
Adam Kujawski covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him at (956) 982-6663 or via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @adamkujo1.