By MARK MOLINA | THE BROWNSVILLE HERALD
The Los Fresnos Falcons came into their game with the Rivera Raiders with a chance to clinch its fourth straight District 32-6A crown, but they played like a team hungry to wins its first.
The Falcons got off and running early as they built a 13-point first quarter lead and never let up, sinking the Raiders 70-54 and clinching the District 32-6A crown outright Friday night at Los Fresnos High School.
Despite the early energy, Falcons head coach Marco Hinojosa said everyone’s minds were focused on cutting down another net, including himself.
“I am not going to lie, the kids were a little jittery about this game and they knew what was on the line,” he said. “They wanted it so bad. We were sloppy at times, but at the end of the day, we got it done. I don’t remember much about the game, honestly…I’m just enjoying it right now.”
The Falcons smothered the Raiders and forced them into turnovers early, opening the door for seniors Jordan Urbina and Andrew Carrizales, who combined to score 15 of their teams 21 first-quarter points.
“Our coach said we have to come out and take care of homecourt because we’ve only lost four games here in four years,” Urbina said. “Taking care of that was a big part of our game. We had to treat it like another game and tonight we executed well and got the win.”
Urbina and Carrizales both finished with 19 points to lead the Falcons.
The Raiders turned the ball over 16 times on the night and were out rebounded 36 to 23 and watched the Falcons pull down 16 offensive boards, which Rivera head coach Saul Villarreal said was the team’s biggest issue.
“I think where (Los Fresnos) really got their momentum was on the boards,” he said. “They hurt us on the offensive glass and got a lot of putbacks. They would get the momentum, but we’re talking about a pretty good ball club. We tried to stay up with them and hoped something would happen, but they are a good ballclub.”
While the Falcons improve to 11-0, the Raiders and are one of four 7-4 teams vying for three playoff spots with four games to go along with Harlingen, Harlingen South and Weslaco, who all picked up wins Friday night.
“We have to take it one game at a time,” Villarreal said. “We will get back to the drawing board, work hard and prepare for our next game. We’ll try our best and see what happens at the end.”
Rivera ends the year with home games against Hanna, Harlingen and a road game at Harlingen South.
Trailing 13 late in the first quarter, the Raiders found some life and ended the final 2:33 of the period on a 11-4 run to make it 21-15 after the first.
The Falcons opened the second on a 14-3 run and pushed the back to 17, led by six six points from Tomas Rangel.
Rangel had nine points in the second quarter and finished with 14.
Buckets from Johan Morales and Oscar Lozoya ended a nearly four-minute Raider drought from the field and made it 35-23 with 3:08 to play in the half.
The Falcons led 43-32 at the break, but the Raiders opened the half strong and cut the Falcon lead to five midway through the third quarter, but a 14-2 Falcon run over the final 4:21 killed the momentum.
“We’re a senior ballclub,” Urbina said. “We know how to handle pressure. Coach said to keep it cool and let the game come to you.”
Lozoya led the Raiders with 12 points, but didn’t score until the late second quarter as he continued to work back into form after suffering an ankle injury last week that forced him to sit out against Weslaco.