By ADAM KUJAWSKI, Staff Writer
The Los Fresnos Falcons pounced on their opportunity late in their bi-district game against the PSJA North Raiders on Tuesday night in Los Fresnos.
When the Raiders’ top threat down low and leading scorer Romeo Williams fouled out with 7:05 remaining in the final quarter, the Falcons surged to a 54-47 win.
After having started their comeback late in the third, the Falcons trailed 40-37 at the time of Williams’ fifth foul.
“The difference in the ball game was Romeo Williams coming out,” Los Fresnos coach Marco Hinojosa said. “He was a monster inside,we had no answer for him. When he fouled out I told the kids, ‘This is our chance to do what we do.’
“It was a very good game by two very good teams that could’ve gone either way.”
The Falcons took their first lead since the first quarter just minutes later on a Jose Mansilla bucket with 4:03 remaining in the game, and Los Fresnos outscored PSJA North 10-4 the remainder of the contest.
The Raiders’ Danny Torres hit a pair of free throws to pull his team to within one at 48-47, but the Falcons’ Jordan Urbina and Andrew Carrizales went a perfect 6 of 6 from the charity stripe to seal the victory.
“When (Williams) fouled out, it took us out of everything we could do set-wise,” PSJA North coach Jaime Gongora said. “We were running our sets, we were getting the shots we wanted, but once we got out of our set we forced a couple of shots.”
Williams acquired his fourth foul with 1:12 remaining in the third, and Gongora considered benching him to save him until late but decided to try to put the game away.
“We were going to try to break the game open,” Gongora said. “If we would’ve gone up 14 or 16, I would’ve pulled him out. It’s unfortunate but we were going to play to win, we weren’t going to be conservative.”
The Raiders were in control most of the game, doing a heavy amount of damage during the latter stages of the second quarter.
After neither team had scored until the 5:50 mark of the second, PSJA North went on a 10-4 run to extend its lead to 10 points at 24-14, its largest lead of the game.
Los Fresnos fought to stay in contention until late in the third when it started to pour on the points. Carrizales hit a 3 and Alex Garcia scored his seventh point of the quarter to begin the Falcons’ comeback.
“I’m not too sure we belong on the court with a lot of teams, but our kids’ heart, their effort is unmatched,” Gongora said. “I can’t be prouder than any group that I’ve coached. They gave us every ounce of energy,and what more can you ask for?”
Garcia led the Falcons with 14 points, and Hugo De La Cruz added 12. Williams and Torres combined for the Raiders’ lead in points with 11 apiece.
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.