By ANDREW CRUM, Staff Writer
Los Fresnos had to hold off Hanna in a close-knit game.
The Falcons got a four big free throws down the stretch from Gabe Martinez that were in the difference in a 57-54 win over the Golden Eagles in a the District 32-6A basketball game Friday at Hanna.
“It was a big honor to hit those free throws for my team,” he said. “We’ll celebrate this win, but tomorrow we’ll get back to work.”
Martinez finished with a game-high 18 points — including three 3s — and five rebounds, but it was his free throw shooting that Los Fresnos (20-6 overall, 8-1 in District 32-6A) needed most. He hit all seven attempts, the last four in a crucial fourth quarter to hold off Hanna (16-13, 3-6) in the district victory.
“I’m glad Gabe was the one who put those free throws in the hole,” Los Fresnos coach Marco Hinojosa said after he heard his point guard being called some names by some fans in the stands. “He answered the call, stepped up to the line and hit two big free throws and let the scoreboard do the talking.”
The Falcons hit eight 3s in the game — six in the first half — and needed every one of them. Los Fresnos used a 9-0 run in the opening quarter after falling behind early to take control. The Falcons used a couple runs in the second quarter to slowly build their lead. After a 3 by Albert Alarcon put Los Fresnos up by nine points, Hanna’s Joe Cavazos hit a 3 to cut the deficit to six. But Alarcon hit another 3-pointer to push the edge to 37-26 at the break.
After the Falcons got back-to-back 3s from Martinez and Alarcon to push the advantage to 43-29 early in the third quarter, Hanna came out swinging. Cavazos would hit back-to-back 3-pointers to get the Eagles within 45-38. Vicente Garcia ended the quarter with back-to-back buckets in the paint to pull Hanna within five points.
Adam Lopez had a pair of buckets to get Hanna within one after an 8-0 surge at the end of the third and beginning of the fourth quarter. After a layup by Los Fresnos’ Jordan Urbina ended the run, Hanna’s Jaime Rucoba tied the game at 49. Urbina had buckets on back-to-back possessions and Martinez hit four from the charity stripe to hold off the second-half surge by the Eagles.
“Our kids fought back, they never gave up and as coaches, as adults to these young men, that’s all we can ask for,” Hanna coach Fermin Lucio said. “That’s something we preach to never give up and keep playing, and they did. We made plays to get back in it and they made a couple more plays at the end to win it.”
Urbina finished with 14 points, including a pair of 3s in the first half and Alarcon added 11 points, including three 3-pointers for the Falcons.
Lopez led Hanna with 14 points, including eight after halftime and seven rebounds. Rick Rocha had 11 points, including three 3s, four rebounds and a pair of assists and Cavazos added nine points, all on 3-pointers for the Eagles.
Despite the loss, Lucio said it proved a lot about his team.
“We got a shot off at the end to tie it, but it just didn’t go in,” he said. “Hats off to Los Fresnos for playing a tough game, but our players showed a lot (Friday) that we can play with anyone in the district. It all starts at practice. We’re a tough team, we’re still in the mix and we just need to put a couple victories together.”
Hinojosa said Hanna gave them all they could handle.
“I give all the credit to Hanna, they showed up to play and punched us in the mouth early,” he said. “We were able to weather the storm and took the lead. They came out (in the second half) and punched us in the mouth again and it took us a while to regroup. The kids got the stops when they needed to at the end.
“It’s a championship team that I’ve got. Everyone’s going to bring their best game (against us). We know what our ultimate goal is, but nothing is guaranteed, so this is a good wake up call.”
LOS FRESNOS 56, HANNA 39
In the girl’s game, Los Fresnos got a big game from freshman Ari Gallardo to get the district road victory over Hanna.
Gallardo finished with 30 points — including six 3-pointers — five rebounds and three steals to help keep Los Fresnos (18-14 overall, 6-5 in District 32-6A) in the hunt for the postseason. The Lady Falcons totaled eight 3s in the game, but needed a big second half against the Lady Eagles.
“I guess I was pumped up because last year I went to Vela (Middle School, a Hanna feeder school),” she said. “I have friends here and I wanted to show them what I’ve got.”
After Hanna started the game on a 6-1 run, Los Fresnos used a 10-0 run to finish the first quarter, highlighted by Gallardo’s first 3 of the game at the buzzer.
Hanna (16-16, 3-8) kept it close with 10 points from Mia Paz in the first half, including a pair of 3s, but Gallardo hit three more triples to give the Lady Falcons a 25-22 lead at the break.
“We get a slow start because we miss layups, it’s frustrating,” Los Fresnos coach Kim Edquist said. “When Ari got warmed up, everybody else got in the groove.”
Los Fresnos started the third quarter on a 12-0 run and Gallardo had 12 of the team’s 18 points in the quarter as the Lady Falcons outscored Hanna 18-4 to take control and never looked back.
“(Gallardo) just got hot,” Hanna coach Luis Gonzalez said. “She did a good job creating her shots and once she hit some shots, we had to come out of our comfort zone and man up and I think that was the difference.
“They’re a talented team and they got the better of us (Friday).”
Britney Ruiz finished with seven points and eight rebounds, Cassie Parra had six points, all after the break, two rebounds and three steals and Jovanna Adame added five points and five rebounds for the Lady Falcons.
Paz finished with a team-high 17 and three rebounds for Hanna. Reischeel Ocampo had seven points and three rebounds and Jacky De La Rosa added six points, five rebounds and a pair of steals for the Lady Eagles.
Gonzalez said shooting woes in the second half was the difference.
“We went cold and that hurt us,” he said. “We had some good looks, but they didn’t go in. We have to continue to practice hard and take it one game at a time and get back to basics.”
Edquist said Los Fresnos is already in postseason mode trying to earn a playoff berth.
“We’ve told them for the last three games, every game we play is considered a playoff game, a do or die for us,” she said. “We’ve got to beat the teams we did in the first round (of district) and hopefully get a couple here and there to keep alive (in the postseason hunt).”
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.