By EDWARD SEVERN, Special to RGVSports.com
LOS FRESNOS — The Los Fresnos Lady Falcons cruised by the Brownsville Pace Lady Vikings 63-24 in a non-district matchup Tuesday night.
Pace kept it close during the first quarter with some great defense and Ashley Gonzalez’s shooting. Gonzalez was a thorn in the Lady Falcons’ side on defense. She had four blocks and helped create a couple of turnovers.
Pace’s Dyllan Lozano-Lomeli and Ariel Barrientos chipped in a couple baskets, but Pace trailed 9-7 at the end of a scrappy first quarter.
A runner by Gonzalez early in the second to make it 13-11 was all the Lady Vikings got for awhile, as the Lady Falcons went on a 24-0 run to finish the half.
The run was a team effort, and the backcourt pairing of Maritza Ortega and Ali Tobar ran the show. Sarahi Jones moved around, picked her spots and bullied the Lady Vikings. Aylene Ortega and Karina Alvarez cleaned up everything down low.
Tobar, Jones and Maritza Ortega had great ball-handling skills and routinely crossed up a Lady Vikings player. Ortega hit a sweet, behind-the-back move to beat a defender on her way to finish at the rim to give Los Fresnos the 52-13 lead in the third quarter.
“I feel like we could have done better offensively and defensively early,” Ortega said. “We need to work on our communication, but I am proud of how we looked today. We are getting better day by day and are ready for district.”
With the big lead, Los Fresnos got to work its bench, which saw out the game 63-24.
“We are starting to take steps in the right direction, the girls are showing grit, we are just trying to get better every day,” Los Fresnos coach Alex Lucio said. “In our district you have to have a great bench. Our district is one of the top in the Valley, and if you only have five you are going to have some trouble. If we get in foul trouble, I need to have my young girls step up. Getting them minutes is big-time right now.”