By ANDREW CRUM, Staff Writer
Pace started quickly, jumped out to a big lead and never looked back.
The Lady Vikings used a balanced scoring attack and hit five shots from beyond the arc during the first half to open up a lead they did not relinquish in a 56-38 victory over Porter in District 32-5A girls basketball Tuesday at Porter.
Valeria Varela led the way with 13 points, 12 rebounds and five steals for Pace. Nadia Mendoza (11 points) and Kate Quezada (10 points) also reached double figures as every player scored for the Lady Vikings. Mendoza added four rebounds and four steals in the district win.
“We talked about putting four quarters together,” Pace coach Kris Metzmaker said. “At halftime we talked about that again, and coming out and not letting down. That’s a good thing for us.”
Pace started the game on a 5-0 run. After Porter’s Karla Sosa hit a pair of free throws and Valerie Jimenez added a bucket to cut the deficit to one, the Lady Vikings went on a 9-0 run to open up a double-digit advantage during the first quarter, including a pair of 3s by Jessica Aguilar. Brissa Rivera hit a pair of 3s for Porter to keep close, but Pace led by six points after one.
The Lady Vikings opened the second quarter on a 13-0 run to extend their lead, highlighted by back-to-back 3s by Kate Quezada and Lexi Arce. Jimenez ended the run with back-to-back buckets, but Pace scored six straight points to extend the lead to 20 points at the break.
“These girls, they never give up,” Porter coach Tony Saavedra said. “I give Pace credit, they killed us with 3s. I’m not sure how many they hit in the first half. They went up real quick, we defended them but they hit their 3s. It was close, then they started hitting their 3s and it got out of hand in the second quarter.”
During the second half, Porter kept fighting and started the third quarter on a 3-0 run with a jumper by Jimenez and a free throw by Danielle Ocampo. Varela ended the run with layup and Mendoza scored five points to push the Pace lead to 23 by the end of the quarter.
Metzmaker was proud of her team’s defense and how it didn’t let up after getting a big lead in the first half.
“Once they get it in their head that they can win, they’re going to go all out,” she said.
Arce had eight points, three rebounds and a pair of steals, and Aguilar finished with six points on two first-quarter 3s and three assists for the Lady Vikings.
Porter found its offense during the fourth quarter and outscored Pace 17-12 but didn’t close the gap enough to win.
Jimenez led the Cowgirls with 11 points and eight rebounds. Rivera finished with eight points, including those two 3s during the first half, and Sosa added six points, seven rebounds, and five steals for Porter.
Despite the loss, the Porter coach was impressed by his team’s grit.
“We came back fighting in the third and fourth (quarters),” Saavedra said. “I can’t coach effort, that comes from the heart and that’s one thing they have. Hopefully it’s a building block for the next game.”
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.