By EDWARD SEVERN, Staff Writer
RAYMONDVILLE — The Rio Hondo Lady Bobcats are outright District 32-4A champions after earning a 59-49 win over the Raymondville Lady Bearkats on Friday night.
Rio Hondo (26-7, 9-0) is a back-to-back district champion and has not lost a district game since Jan. 28, 2020. The Lady Bobcats pulled off five wins during the past week to capture the title.
“We will take them all, no matter the score, but we have some work to do. We came out a little flat,” Rio Hondo coach Victor Sauceda said. “Winning district is always one of our goals. We are happy, and we are excited that we came out with the win today.”
Lady Bobcats guard Alexis Rhyner’s two baskets in the paint gave Rio Hondo an early 6-2 lead. Guard Eliza Rodriguez fed her for the second basket, then hit a 3-pointer for a 9-2 advantage.
Rio Hondo winger Emily Molina also hit a 3, and then Rodriguez rattled off six straight points to give the Lady Bobcats an 18-7 lead.
Raymondville’s Amber Tamez responded with two buckets from downtown, and Caitlyn Brooks utilized a post move to cut the lead to 18-12 to end the first quarter.
The Lady Bobcats benefited from points in the paint and points off turnovers during the first half. Guard Hailey Villalobos’ back-to-back points at the rim put Rio Hondo up 25-14.
Smooth layups by Rodriguez before the half gave the Lady Bobcats a 34-20 lead going into the break.
Brooks and Tamez cut the Rio Hondo advantage to 41-31. Both offenses traded scores often in the third.
Rhyner was busy again for the Lady Bobcats, though, as they took a 52-38 lead into the fourth quarter.
“Honestly, we should have played better,” Rhyner said. “I give Raymondville props for playing hard against us. We did good, and we are ready for playoffs. It feels good to be back-to-back district champs.”
The Lady Bearkats chipped away at the Rio Hondo lead again. A mid-range jumper by guard Denae Hernandez put Raymondville within six points with four minutes left.
“We could have picked it up more on defense today,” Rodriguez said. We were lazy on defense and overconfident. We need to go back to practice and play harder on defense.”
Rio Hondo finishes the season against Hidalgo next Tuesday before they begin the playoffs.