By MARK MOLINA | Staff Writer
PORT ISABEL — The Port Isabel Lady Tarpons trailed the La Feria Lionettes by as many as 20 points during the first half but managed fight their way back into the game by the end of the fourth quarter.
In the end, the deficit proved to be too much.
After a Sabrina Garza bucket brought the Lady Tarpons within two points with 3:55 to play, they ran out of gas and scored just two points the rest of the way, and the Lionettes hung on for a 49-45 District 32-4A win Friday night.
The Lionettes built a 28-8 lead by the early second quarter and went into the break up 14 before the Lady Tarpons outscored them 25-15 in the second half.
Both teams struggled down the stretch with key players in foul trouble, recording two combined field goals during the final 5:36.
“ We got into foul trouble quickly again (in the second half),” La Feria coach Angel Martinez said. “It’s kind of tough when your starting guards are on the bench and you are playing with guards who don’t normally bring the ball up the court. We managed to get through that adversity, and luckily our half-court defense did a great job against (Port Isabel).”
Port Isabel was struck by foul trouble as well when Garza, who led Port Isabel with 15 points, went to the bench late in the fourth quarter. Port Isabel coach Hannah Burleson said that, and going 16 of 32 from the free-throw line, had a lot to do with offensive execution down the stretch.
“ That hurts us on offense,” Burleson said. “That’s who we had go to the rim quite a bit. It was a physical game by both teams, and both teams were in foul trouble. Towards the end, we missed a couple of clutch free throws and missed some early on. That’s been our Achilles’ heel all year.”
“ I am proud of the girls,” she added. “We were down by 20 and cut it to two. The girls fought hard. It’s disappointing because it was a huge game for us, but I’m not at all disappointed with the way our girls played and hung in there.”
La Feria improves to 7-4 and sits in third place in the district standings.
The loss is a costly one for Port Isabel, which falls to 6-5 and is in fifth place.
La Feria’s Maggie Cavazos led her team with a game-high 18 points and teammate Karina Diaz added 13.
For Port Isabel, Sabrina Gonzalez added 10 points to join Garza in double figures.
Port Isabel opened the game leading 7-2 before La Feria closed the quarter on a 19-0 run, led by aggressive rebounding on both ends as well as Cavazos and Diaz combining for 16 of the Lionettes’ 21 points in the first.
The run ended up being 26-1 before Garza ended it with a layup to make it 28-10 with 5:55 to play in the half.
“ La Feria missed the first minute or two and then didn’t miss (the rest of the quarter),” Burleson said. “They did beat us on the rebounds the first quarter and we dug ourselves a little hole. We outscored them in the second half, but we were already down 14 at half. But foul trouble and not knocking down free throws. Even though it happened early, it had an effect at the end of the game.”
After the break, Port Isabel’s Samantha Chapa made six straight points in the middle of a 14-6 run to make it a 40-35 before La Feria’s Reanne Fraga pushed the lead back to seven with a bucket late in the third.
La Feria’s Kayleen Ramirez hit a 3-pointer early in the fourth to make it a nine-point game, but Gonzalez answered with a trey of her own and Garza added two straight buckets to make it 45-43 with 3:55 to play.
That was as close as Port Isabel got as La Feria dug in defensively to sneak out the win.
“ It’s always big to have a 20-point lead here at Port Isabel,” Martinez said. “I don’t think I’ve ever had a 20-point lead here; it’s a tough place to play and win. I knew that lead would come in handy in the second half with us in foul trouble.”