BY NATE KOTISSO | THE MONITOR
MISSION — The La Joya Palmview Lobos began their Thanksgiving week with a sluggish, tryptophan-induced three quarters against San Benito but awoke in the fourth to stun the Greyhounds 38-37 in a non-district game Tuesday afternoon at Memorial Middle School in Mission.
“We started off really slow,” La Joya Palmview coach Anisa Reyna said. “I think it was a matter of our mindset and body language coming out here. We had to keep up with the ball and what the other team brings to us. Once we were able to get into a rhythm, we were able to convert.”
Palmview junior guard Renee Flores picked up much of the offensive slack for the Lobos (8-6), scoring 14 of her 21 points in the second half, including a game-winning 3-pointer to give the team a 38-37 lead with under 10 seconds to play. Flores also had the game-sealing steal with a second remaining.
“We knew we were down, but we were just playing the rest of the game forgetting the score,” Flores said. “We played our game and did the things that we’re supposed to do.”
San Benito (10-5) had 12-point leads at the end of the first, second and third quarters before squandering the game late in the fourth.
“They hit some good shots at the end, and we couldn’t find a way to capitalize on their errors,” San Benito coach Abel Moreno said. “And I hate dogging on the officiating, but, sometimes, I don’t think the officiating was well-balanced. It is what it is.”
The Greyhounds held Flores scoreless in the first quarter but couldn’t contain her thereafter.
“She’s a good basketball player, but we didn’t think that she would hurt us,” Moreno said. “I think we’re a better team than that. … We were really not worried about Palmview. We thought we could come in here and take care of business, but the girls were a little sluggish today. It happens sometimes during the holidays.”
Before Flores’ game winner, she missed a long two-point attempt that would have tied the game at 37 with 28 seconds left.
“I had faith in my teammates,” Flores said. “If I make it, I make it. But if I don’t, our two bigs would get the ball for a quick put back. My teammates gave me the confidence to take another shot.”
Flores on Tuesday played in only her fifth game back after suffering a torn right meniscus and a sprained posterior cruciate ligament that caused her to miss the summer and the start of the regular season.
“It’s hard, and it really took a toll, but I’m going through it with my team,” Flores said. “The coaches are also helping me do everything I can to get back to where I was.”