By MARK MOLINA | Staff Writer
SAN BENITO — The San Benito Greyhounds’ defense came out and never let the Hanna Golden Eagles’ offense get into a rhythm, but their offense couldn’t get out of its own way.
The Golden Eagles took advantage of that and did just enough in the end to escape with a 46-39 victory over the Greyhounds in the District 32-6A opener Friday night in San Benito.
Up by two with less than four minutes to play, Hanna went on its final run of the game, outscoring San Benito 8-2 to close it out.
“ It think what we saw was just two teams coming off a holiday break,” Hanna coach Fermin Lucio said. “Both started kind of slow. But once we caught our footing, (San Benito) was hitting shots; we started playing our game, going inside out. It took time for both teams to get going and we just made our free throws, made the stops that we needed and got the rebounds that we needed. That was the key.”
While the Golden Eagles (14-13, 1-0) stayed stagnant the entire night and didn’t take a lead until the early third quarter, it stayed within striking distance as San Benito (6-11, 0-1) turned the ball over 22 times and never led by more than five points.
“ For basketball, there are two big factors: turnovers and rebounds,” San Benito coach Eddie Abrego said. “We did fair rebounding, but the turnovers were horrible. We had an opportunity in the end to make a shot, and we coughed it up again. I told (the team) that the great teams keep can keep that number under 10. I know they’re young, but you have to take ownership. We didn’t give ourselves an opportunity.
“ This is Game 1 (of district). It was a pivotal game, but we have to bounce back, have a good practice (today) and get us going for Tuesday.”
Leading the way for Hanna was Isaac Iracheta with 14 points, followed by Victor Campos with 13.
San Benito’s Aaron Reyes led the ‘Hounds with 14 points, and David Juarez added 10.
Hanna trailed 5-0 early and didn’t score its first points until the 3:59 mark of the first quarter, when Fernie Camacho split a pair of free throws. That was soon followed by the team’s first field goal of the night on a make by Iracheta.
After a 3-pointer from San Benito’s Devin Rubio put his team up 14-9 early in the second, the Greyhounds hit just once more from the field in the quarter on a trey from Juarez.
That stand left the door open for the Golden Eagles to make a push and make it a 20-20 game at the half.
Lucio said his team’s defense in the first half was key Friday night and will continue to be going forward.
“ It is district, and we’re going up against top teams every Tuesday and Friday,” the Hanna coach said. “(Defense) was the biggest positive. Maybe our shots weren’t falling like we wanted, but we got stops when we needed and we got stops throughout the game consistently.”
After Camacho made a pair of freebies to give Hanna its first lead, a make from San Benito’s Juan Constante and a 3 from Marcos Valdez put the ‘Hounds up 25-22.
The Golden Eagles went ahead for good soon after with an 8-0 run, led by a pair of baskets in the paint by Campos.
After Campos’ three-point play late in the fourth quarter made it 41-39, Reyes hit his second 3 of the quarter to make it a two-point game.
San Benito continued to turn the ball over and did not get the stops down the stretch, as Hanna scored the final five points of the game.
“ We had an opportunity there at the end to get a shot and we coughed it up again,” Abrego said. “We played good defense (tonight), but to cough it up in the next moment is disrespectful to yourself. We’ve been harping on it, and we’ve been getting better. We just didn’t put together a great game. Our kids are a little upset with themselves, and it sits in their mind and makes us better.”
Hanna continues district play Tuesday night at Los Fresnos, and San Benito hits the road to take on Rivera. Both games are slated for 6 p.m.