By ANDREW CRUM, Staff Writer
Hanna needed a little help for a sputtering offense.
The Lady Golden Eagles were aggressive on defense from the start and used it to limit the Los Fresnos Lady Falcons’ offensive attack during a 33-23 victory in District 32-6A action Friday at Hanna.
The Lady Eagles clamped down on defense, mostly playing a 1-2-2 zone that the Lady Falcons didn’t figure out how to exploit. Los Fresnos was limited all evening in the paint, instead settling for jumpers. But it failed to find its rhythm there either.
“Offensively we couldn’t get shots to fall, and our defense carried us tonight,” Hanna coach Luis Gonzalez said. “We’ve been trying everything on defense … so I think we are finally settled into our 1-2-2 trapping zone, and it looked good tonight. The girls were moving and were quick out there.”
Despite the offensive troubles for the Lady Falcons, they trailed by just two points at the break.
“We couldn’t (get the ball inside), and the shots we took inside we couldn’t make,” Los Fresnos coach Kim Edquist said. “I don’t think we shot a whole lot. I don’t think we put the ball up in the air enough to even match up with them. We’d get one shot and that was it.”
But Hanna pulled away during the second half, as Alicia Chavez scored all of her 10 points after halftime.
After being shut out during the first half, Chavez got hot. She opened the third quarter with a pair of free throws and later extended the Lady Eagles’ lead to five points with another bucket. Jessica Muñoz followed with a 3-pointer, and Hanna held an eight-point lead.
She wasn’t done. Chavez opened the fourth quarter with consecutive buckets to give Hanna a 10-point advantage and later added another basket.
“Defensively, we gave up 33 points, that’s pretty good,” Edquist said. “But you can’t score 23 points and win very many games.”
Chavez finished with eight rebounds, three steals and one block. Muñoz and Taylor Cano had eight points apiece and combined for 10 rebounds and eight steals for Hanna (17-7, 4-3).
Gonzalez thought his squad could have rebounded better but again praised the defensive effort of the Lady Eagles.
“Defensively we looked good, and it actually helped our offense,” he said. “We got a lot of easy baskets and a lot more possessions.”
Kelsi McDonough led the Lady Falcons with nine points, including a 3-pointer, a pair of rebounds and one steal. Lynette Duran had six points on two 3-pointers, and post players Joseline Caraveo and Jackie Kingsbury combined for 15 rebounds and four steals but were held to one free throw for Los Fresnos (10-14, 3-4).
Though her team struggled on offense, Edquist thought the Hanna defense was key.
“(The Lady Eagles) played good on defense, their zone was tough,” she said. “We kept trying to get the ball (into the paint), but their defense was smothering.”
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.