By ANDREW CRUM, Staff Writer
Sophomore Diana Garcia had 15 points — including a basket off a steal and a 3-pointer down the stretch — to help the Lady Bloodhounds hold off San Antonio St. Anthony 40-37 in the TAPPS District 2-5A opener for both teams Saturday at St. Joseph.
“I was expecting a pretty close game,” St. Joseph coach Cynthia Martinez said. “I think the poise that the girls had out there,we still have a very young team. For them to show that type of maturity out there, they did a great job of controlling those last two minutes of the game.”
Particularly Garcia, who showed the calmness of a more experienced player during the fourth quarter. Garcia totaled 10 of her 15 points during the final quarter, scoring on four straight possessions for St. Joseph .
“She’s ridiculous,” Martinezsaid of Garcia’s 3-pointer to give St. Josephthe lead. “I think she lulls them to sleep on defense or something. She’s not supposed to be in that spot (on the floor).”
Garcia added three steals and a pair of rebounds for the Lady Bloodhounds.
The teams went back and forth from the start. St. Joseph sophomore Ceci De La Gaza opened the game with a 3-pointer. Later, St. Anthony’s Miranda Leal hit a 3-pointer to give the Lady Yellow Jackets a 8-7 lead after the first quarter.
St. Joseph senior Allison Alvarez had six of her nine points during the first half and sophomore Franchesca Huerta scored all four of her points in the second quarter to help give the Lady Bloodhounds a 16-14 advantage at the half.
During the third quarter, another sophomore, Valeria Tapia, stepped up for the Lady Bloodhounds.
After a Garcia 3-pointer, Tapia scored two straight buckets to give St. Joseph a 7-0 run, but the Lady Yellow Jackets matched it with their own 7-0 run to tie the game at 23.
Tapia would score eight of her nine points during the second half and add eight rebounds and four steals.
Despite a few runs and matching baskets, St. Anthony let the game slip away.
“It’s just pure execution,” St. Anthony coach Paul Mendoza said. “We failed to block out or rebound. We failed to execute offensively, and we didn’t ‘D’ up their key player like we were supposed to. Essentially we didn’t do the job today.”
During the fourth quarter, Tapia and Garcia combined to score all 14 of the Lady Bloodhounds’ points and held off a furious rally by the Lady Yellow Jackets to seal the district victory.
Mendoza didn’t have to look very far for what hurt his squad against St. Joseph — they hit just 4 of 12 shots from the charity stripe.
“I think it came down to free throws,” he said. “I thought our free-throw situation could have been better, especially from 1-and-1. We didn’t execute defensively where we were supposed to, and we’ll have to make some adjustments going forward.”
Gaby Franco led St. Anthony (16-12, 0-1) with 11 points, including three 3-pointers, five rebounds and three steals. Jenni Enriquez had 10 points and eight rebounds, and Leal finished with eight points and three rebounds.
Martinezwas proud of the way her sophomores played, especially to help out Alvarez.
“You couldn’t tell the difference between Alli and the four sophomores,” she said. “(Alvarez) hit some great shots in the beginning, and it took the pressure off her.”
The sophomores for St. Joseph(11-7, 1-0) combined for 31 points, 15 rebounds and nine steals.
Martinez will take the win, especially when her team has struggled at times during the early season.
“It’s been tough getting our rhythm, and it shows at times,” she said. “Today was big because everyone knows what’s at stake (for district). Every game is a must-win for all of us.”
Andrew Crum covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him at (956) 982-6629 or via email at [email protected]. On Twitter, he’s @andrewmcrum.