FREDDY GONZALEZ | Staff Writer
RIO HONDO — District 32-4A leader Rio Hondo continued its winning ways Friday night.
The Lady Bobcats came into the contest unblemished in district play and added another “W” with a convincing 54-30 victory over Port Isabel.
“I thought today we did pretty well. We moved the ball around well, we just weren’t hitting enough shots in the first half but we just stayed with,” said Rio Hondo head coach Robert Jaramillo. “We don’t care who scores as long as we play as a team.”
The Lady Bobcats (20-6, 9-0) found themselves down 7-4 to start the game after Alex Martinez scored five of her 14points in quick succsession. However the junior sat out most of the second due to foul trouble.
After the Lady Bobcats found their footing they went on a 10-2 to end the period up 14-9.
“We came out on fire and we were hitting our shots and we held with them,” said Port Isabel head coach Blake Ramsey. “They’re a very good team well coached. We through a lot of different looks at them and I think it worked early on.
“Halfway through the second we got into some early foul trouble and by then they start finding their shots.”
The stingy Rio Hondo defense came alive in the second quarter allowing just six points the entire period as the offense began to gain momentum behind Victoria Aguilar, who netted six of her 12 points in the period to extend the lead to 27-15 at the half.
The third period belonged to the Bobcats’ Andrea Rodriguez who scored seven of her 17 points in the quarter and pushed the lead 40-20.
“Andrea has played basket ball for me since she was in the second grade,” said Coach Jaramillo. “As she goes we go, we try and give her the ball as much as we can.”
Lori Jaramillo netted eight points while teammates Dani Villarreal and Brisa Leal each scored six.
PI’s Kelcie Swink had 10 points on the night. The Lady Bobcats swarmed the dominating senior evertime she got the ball.
However, Ramsey was more than pleased with his team’s overall performance.
“I liked our overall effort, we came out strong and we proved to ourselves that we’re able to play with and hang with teams like this,” he said.
The Lady Tarpons (13-12, 4-5) sit at fourth place in the district, two games ahead of their next opponent Raymondville.
Rio Hondo hosts last place Progreso on Tuesday.