By ANDREW CRUM, Staff Writer
This wasn’t the game Brownsville Veterans Memorial expected to come out and play.
The Lady Chargers struggled offensively, but their defense held its own for a 39-25 victory over the San Benito Lady Greyhounds in a District 32-6A game Tuesday at Brownsville Veterans.
Hannah Meyers had nine points and five rebounds, and Jordan Rudd finished with eight points, six rebounds, three assists and four steals to lead the Lady Chargers.
“At the beginning of the game we hit some 3s, but that can lead to fool’s gold,” Brownsville Veterans coach Valentin Paz said. “We were settling too much for 3s because we fell in love with the 3. There’s nothing wrong with taking the shot as long as it comes out of the flow (of the offense). But in the second half, there was too much standstill.”
After an opening basket by San Benito’s Javana Gonzalez, Brownsville Veterans went on a 7-0 run during the first quarter fueled by two baskets from Daniela Diaz. The Lady Chargers finished the quarter with six points from Meyers to hold a 13-7 advantage.
Both teams struggled offensively during the second quarter. Rudd had four points, including a 3-pointer, and the Lady Greyhounds were held to just a pair of free throws until Rebecca Hartman scored a bucket before the half.
“We took a lot of shots and just missed a lot of shots,” San Benito coach Abel Moreno said. “It’s not for lack of trying. “We just weren’t hitting shots. I don’t know what our shooting percentage was, but I’m sure it was pretty low.”
With the help of a Lady Chargers defense that picked up 16 steals on the night, Brownsville Veterans used several trapping defenses to limit the Lady Greyhounds, who struggled from the field.
Paz wasn’t happy about his team’s defense despite the number of forced turnovers.
“We had a lot of steals, but the effort wasn’t there,” he said. “We got beat too many times for backside layups.”
Brownsville Veterans had just enough offense to hold off San Benito and push its lead to double digits by the third quarter of the victory.
But Moreno was happy with the defensive effort of his team.
“For a team like Brownsville Veterans who normally scores 50 or 60, we were able to contain them, and if we were shooting well we’d probably (have) been in the game,” he said. “We came with the game plan to play zone and see how much we could contain Rudd. It worked out defensively, just offensively it didn’t.”
With the loss, San Benito (10-14, 0-4) is still seeking its first district win. Hartman led the way with eight points and nine rebounds, and Gonzalez had six points and a pair of steals for the Lady Greyhounds.
Sarah Sandoval had 11 rebounds to go with four points and three steals, Diaz finished with six points and six rebounds, and Ares Muzquiz added six points on two 3-pointers and four rebounds for the Lady Chargers.
Brownsville Veterans (17-6, 4-0) remains unbeaten in district play, but Paz knows his team must play better to stay near the top of the standings.
“A win is a win, but it’s not a good win,” he said. “You have to give (San Benito) credit, they made it difficult (tonight).”
Andrew Crum covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him at (956) 982-6629 or via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @andrewmcrum.