By MARIO AGUIRRE | STAFF WRITER
HIDALGO — Matt Garcia scored the go-ahead basket inside of a minute to play Saturday, and his Santa Rosa teammate added an insurance bucket, as the East won the sixth annual RGVSports.com/RGV Vipers Showcase 102-99 at State Farm Arena.
Garcia finished with 15 points, though none bigger than his lone field goal in the second half. Garcia grabbed an offensive board and tossed it back in, and Leo Lara proceeded to steal the ball and take it the length of the court for a three-point advantage.
With 11.7 seconds remaining, the West’s Hector Ruiz (Edinburg Vela) took the ball up court before it bounced off his knee and into the hands of an East defender. In a loose-ball scramble, the East passed it to the West’s D.J. Johnson (McAllen Memorial) underneath his own basket, but the senior was never able to get a shot off in time.
Lara finished with a game-high 20 points, Hugo De La Cruz (Los Fresnos) finished with 16, Darian Thuku (Brownsville Veterans Memorial) had 12 and Darren Gonzalez (Brownsville Lopez) added 11.
“What helped us win today was that we played a lot of team ball,” Lara said. “It’s the best players in the whole Valley, so we each contributed our part.
“Coming from a small school (Santa Rosa, in Class 3A) and competing against 6As, it’s a great experience.”
The game featured a series of lead changes, especially after the West’s Andrew Cantu (Edinburg High) found Jonathan Sanchez (McAllen Memorial) an alley-oop that tied it at 80 with 8 minutes to play.
The West began to build some momentum, after Kobe Patterson (Edinburg North) dished it to Jordan Wilson (Sharyland Pioneer) for a one-point lead, and Mike Madrigal, the Pioneer post, proceeded to bury a 3 from the top of the arc.
Gonzalez drove baseline and scored to give the East an 88-87 edge, but the West briefly took control when Johnson drained a 3 from behind the NBA arc followed by the last of his three dunks on the day.
Johnson finished with a team-high 18 points, Ryan Garza (Edinburg Vela) added 16 (including three 3-pointers) and Armando Alaniz (La Joya Palmview) finished with 13.
“It was fun experience, kind of like park ball,” Garza said. “Everyone was competitive. Everyone was getting over each other on defense, trying to make that highlight play.
“I knew it was going to be tight; it’s an all-star game. Just being able to play with guys I don’t usually play with during the season, it was fun.”
WEST GIRLS PREVAIL
Krissynthia Rocha (Roma), Jayla Santa Maria (Edinburg High) and Belle Palacios (PSJA North) scored during a 6-0 run during the second half that helped the West pull through with a 75-70 win over the East.
Rocha scored on a driving layup, Santa Maria followed with a shot in the paint and Palacios buried a corner 3, as the West went up 66-59 inside of 6 minutes to play.
The East’s Jordan Rudd (Brownsville Veterans) drained a pair of FTs, before teammate Sam Quilantan (Harlingen High) tied it at 66. Moments later, the West’s Jaida Muhammad (Edinburg Vela) hit a shut off the glass for a 73-68 edge with 1:11 remaining, and Brianna Peña (Weslaco High) answered with a bucket that cut the deficit to two with 40 seconds remaining.
Muhammad’s free throws gave the West a five-point advantage with 15.1 seconds remaining.
The East had three double-digit scorers with Jazz Muniz (Weslaco High) pouring in 20 points, Quilantan delivering 11 and Peña contributing 10.
THE LONG BALL
Ryan Garza won the boys 3-point shootout Saturday. The Edinburg Vela junior guard made 16 of 25 attempts, easily beating Santa Rosa’s Leo Lara (9) and Edinburg North’s Kobe Patterson (6).
Mission Veterans Memorial’s Ashley Smith won the girls shootout. She made seven from behind the arc, doubling Weslaco High’s Jazz Muniz (3) and La Joya Palmview’s Samantha Gutierrez (2).