By ADAM KUJAWSKI, Staff Writer
Defense was at a premium Tuesday in Los Fresnos.
What appeared to be a modest game scoring-wise early,erupted into a 72-66 final in favor of the Los Fresnos Falcons (11-7). They combined with the McAllen Memorial Mustangs (10-10) to score 43 points during the fourth quarter.
“I thought we played all right,” Los Fresnos coach Marco Hinojosa said. “We didn’t defend very well, we pushed the ball and hit some shots, but we just didn’t defend. We let McAllen Memorial get to the basket at will, but you’ve got to credit Memorial, they were hungry for a win.”
It took the Falcons until the six-minute mark of the second quarter before they took the lead at 19-16. The Mustangs fought their way back to even the score at 27, but Roy Quesada scored six consecutive points in just more than one minute near the end of the quarter. Los Fresnos took a 33-29 lead into halftime.
The Falcons continued to apply pressure and found themselves in the bonus with more than 4:30 remaining in the third quarter. However, they failed to take immediate advantage of the situation.
With just more than 2:25 to go in the third, Alonzo Gutierrez hit a 3-pointer and McAllen Memorial began to whittle away at its deficit. The Mustangs carried a 17-2 run into the fourth quarter.
“We were up and down today,” McAllen Memorial coach Sam Cortez said. “We started off pretty good then we hit a little drought and I challenged (the team) and we actually took the lead.
“We battled. We didn’t execute late, but I’m happy with our performance.”
For the next three minutes, neither team missed. The Falcons scored 10 points on 4 for 4 shooting, including 1 of 2 from the free-throw line. The Mustangs were also 4 for 4 from the field and made two of their three shots from the charity stripe for 10 points.
Following the shooting streak, the Falcons began to draw fouls, and in the end, this game was won at the free-throw line. The Falcons hit nine of 10 shots from the line during the final two minutes of the game to seal the win.
“We lost (an 11)-point lead in the third, and I said, ‘Just find a way to win this game,’” Hinojosa said. “At the end of the day, good teams find a way to win games.”
Alex Garcia tied for the game-high in points with 24 for the Falcons, and teammate Hugo De La Cruz added 13. D.J. Talamantes also had 24 points for McAllen Memorial, and teammate D.J. Johnson chipped in 17.
Los Fresnos will open up District 32-6A competition at 2:30 p.m. Saturday on the road against Harlingen South. McAllen Memorial will tip off District 30-6A play at 7:30 p.m. Friday at La Joya High.
Adam Kujawski covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him at (956) 982-6663 or via email [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @adamkujo1.