By ANDREW CRUM, Staff Writer
Pace got going from long range early, and it paid off against PSJA Southwest.
The Lady Vikings hit six 3-pointers, including five during the first half, to jump out to a big lead and never trailed in a 56-24 victory over the Lady Javelinas in a District 32-5A game Friday at Pace.
“They finally have got that concept in their head, you’re hot you shoot, you’re not, stop,” Pace coach Kris Metzmaker said. “We came out really strong, got a big lead and didn’t let it go.”
Nadia Mendoza collected a game-high 16 points, nine rebound and four steals, and Ebony Casanova finished with 12 points, five rebounds and seven steals for the Lady Vikings.
Pace started the game with a 3 by Casanova and went on a 5-0 run. PSJA Southwest received a three-point play from Merilee Medellin to cut the lead to two. But a putback by Valeria Varela and another 3 by Casanova fueled a 7-0 run to finish the first quarter for the Lady Vikings and take a 12-3 lead.
Pace started the second quarter on a 4-0 run to go up 13 points, and Karla Garcia hit back-to-back 3s to push the lead to 19-4 for the Lady Vikings. Lexi Arce added another 3 to push the lead to 20. Pace held PSJA Southwest without a field goal during the quarter and took a 25-7 lead at the break.
“We played our worst game,” PSJA Southwest coach Milton Galloso said. “Not taking anything away from Brownsville (Pace), they came to play, that’s a good ballclub. They’re scrappy, they fight for everything. We just didn’t show up. Our effort wasn’t there.”
The Lady Vikings went on a 5-0 run to start the third quarter as Mendoza had two buckets to take a 30-7 advantage. But the Lady Javelinas found some offense and had an 8-0 run with Medellin getting a layup and a pair of free throws to cut the deficit to 15. Pace answered with a 10-0 run to push the lead to 23.
The Lady Vikings kept up the offense to go along with their aggressive defense and pushed the lead to 30 in the fourth quarter, sealing the district win. Pace finished with 22 steals, many of them followed by points in transition.
“We play better when we press,” Metzmaker said. “Mentally it seems to keep them in the game more.”
Varela nearly finished with a double-double as she had nine points, 10 rebounds and three steals for Pace.
Medillin led the Lady Javelinas with nine points, Jenna Gutierrez added seven points and five rebounds and Lizabeth Melendez finished with six rebounds, and a pair of assists and steals for PSJA Southwest.
Galloso was surprised his team had such a letdown after playing closely with the top team in District 32-5A earlier this week.
“The effort was there against Mercedes on Tuesday. (Friday) was a different story, I don’t know what team showed up (Friday),” he said. “We’ll regroup and see what happens in the second round (of district).”
The Lady Vikings (6-1 in district) next face Mercedes, which handed Pace its only district loss and is unbeaten through the first half of district play at 7-0, on Jan. 19.
Metzmaker is confident her team can challenge for the district title.
“It’s going to take care of itself if they keep playing like they are,” she said. “We know we shouldn’t have lost the first game. We had some turnovers and shot ourselves in the foot. We know we’re a good team. We’re going to play really hard on Tuesday and let the chips fall where they may.”
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.