By MARK MOLINA | THE BROWNSVILLE HERALD
KINGSVILLE — Fresh off a comeback win in overtime in the area round, the Pace Vikings came in a hungry bunch on the verge of a regional tournament berth, but they quickly ran into a wall that is the Nixon Mustangs (Laredo).
From start to finish, the Mustangs were dominant at every turn as their smothering defense and potent shooting from the outside spelled doom for the Vikings in a 92-43 Class 5A regional quarterfinal loss Tuesday night at H.M. King High School in Kingsville.
From the tipoff, nothing went right for the Vikings’ offense as it turned the ball over 29 times, shot 30 percent from the field and struggled to even get the ball past halfcourt against a Mustangs press.
“(Nixon’s defense) threw us off quite a bit and even though we worked on it and practiced it, you can never simulate what actually happens in a game,” Pace head coach Jose Luis Ramirez said. “It seem s like everything we had, Nixon had an answer for it. They also came out shooting the ball really well and when someone is on and you’re off, there’s nothing you can do.”
Nixon (32-6) came out of the gate with five three-point shots and got out to a 13-point lead within the first six minutes. They finished with 15 treys on the night from eight different players.
Mustangs head coach Pete Solis Jr. said the fast start was just another day at the office for his team.
“That’s the way play,” he said. “We’ve never played Pace before and they never played us, so were unfamiliar with each other’s styles, but we play at that pace every time. Sometimes it’s good and sometimes it’s bad for us. We give a lot of credit to Pace advancing to the third round, but at the same time, our kids wanted to get back to the regional tournament and we did that tonight.”
In comparison, the Vikings (28-9) hit just six shots from downtown and had just one player in double-digits as Julio Ortega scored 11 points.
He was held to just two points in the second half.
Pace’s 43 points was its lowest since scoring just 35 in a loss to Harlingen South back on Dec. 9 and its second lowest of the season.
“It was frustrating; we’ve never played a team that played defense like they did,” Ortega said. “They hustled and they got to us. We weren’t able to do what we usually do and that was the change in the ballgame.”
The Mustangs opened the game with back-to-back 3s from Neal Garcia and AJ Melendez and would get off to a 31-2 run before Pace’s Emilio Padron would stop the run with a layup at the 4:20 mark.
The Mustangs led 23-11 after and would not miss a beat in the second quarter, hitting another five shots from downtown, three of which came from Joseph Garcia.
Ortega had a strong second quarter, where he scored nine of Pace’s 14 points, but Pace trailed 48-25 at the break as Nixon dominated the boards and made a living on second-chance points.
“Nixon had second- and third-shot opportunities and they did a good job hitting the boards,” Ramirez said. “So even though we stopped one or two shots, they got the offensive board and put it right back up.”
Nixon spent the second half adding to its lead, starting with a 15-5 run to open the third, making it a 63-33 game.
Anzaldua ended the run with a triple, but Nixon led 72-38 after three.
Nixon would keep the heat on, holding Pace to just five fourth-quarter points.
The Mustangs were led by Joel Pena’s game-high 17 points. AJ Melendez scored 12 and LJ Herrera recorded 10. Behind Ortgega, Aguilar scored nine for Pace.
Despite the loss, Ramirez was content with the way the season played out. The Vikings began the year as a relatively inexperienced ballclub and turned into an undefeated District 32-5A champion.
“We have a lot to be proud of, taking a group of kids who maybe weren’t the best talents individually, but together, they were dynamite,” he said. “They worked together and worked very hard all season long. Look what you can accomplish when you work hard and got the support of your fans, the administration and your head football coach who comes to support you.
“There’s a lot you can do with a program like that.”