By STEFAN MODRICH, Staff Writer
With his team trailing by one in the waning seconds of overtime, Damian Maldonado rose up over Irving Gamez and splashed a 3-pointer with 3.1 ticks remaining to seal Brownsville Veterans Memorial’s 61-59 bi-district round victory over La Joya Palmview on Tuesday.
“I’m so proud of my kids,” Brownsville Veterans coach Larry Gibson said. “I’m also proud of the way La Joya Palmview came here and played. That’s a team we beat by 25 (points) earlier in the year. They came in and gave us everything we wanted. We had to hit a last-second shot to win the game.”
Maldonado (34 points) led the Chargers with nine of his team’s 13 points in the overtime period, including a key defensive rebound, an offensive rebound and a dish to Matthew Maddox (16 points) for a go-ahead bucket during the final 90 seconds of the contest.
“On that play I was nervous,” Maddox said. “Because in one of our previous games, I just dropped the ball (after being wide open under the basket). But I caught the ball and finished and we got the lead, and that’s what we had worked up to.”
While Maldonado’s game on the court more closely resembled a cross between Nikola Jokic and Anthony Davis, his clutch play down the stretch was not unlike that of the pro point guard Damian Lillard.
“I had to do whatever I could to put us up,” Maldonado said. “I always trust my teammates whenever I pass, and I always believe in them and believe that they’re going to make the shot.”
It was evident that Maldonado had the same confident streak when he decided to shoot the ball himself. While the shared first name is merely coincidental, it was fitting that it was “Dame Time” whenever Maldonado touched the ball.
“The big fella carried us tonight,” Gibson said. “(Maldonado) wanted to win, he didn’t want to go home. He played like a beast tonight.”
Gamez and Maldonado, two friends from their summer travel team, often were matched head-to-head in Tuesday’s game.
The game featured several lead changes down the stretch, and no team ever led by double digits. The Chargers led 16-10 at the end of the first quarter.
With 1:05 left in the half, Maddox (11 first-half points) dished a no-look pass to Maldonado on the left block, who drew a foul while making a layup and converting the ensuing free throw to put the Chargers up 27-22 at the break.
Gamez, sporting purple and gold Kobe Bryant sneakers the day after a public memorial was held in Los Angeles to honor the members of the Bryant family and other lives lost in a January helicopter crash in Southern California, went 14-for-16 from the free throw line and was the Lobos’ leading scorer with 28 points. Gerson Ramos scored seven of his 11 points in overtime for La Joya Palmview.
Gabe Garza (five points) drilled a 3 from the right elbow for La Joya Palmview to even the game at 32 with 4:05 to go in the third quarter.
The Chargers went on a 9-0 run — capped by a Maldonado putback— during the next two and a half minutes that sent them to a 41-32 lead with 2:54 to play in the third.
Brownsville Veterans led 43-38 at the end of the third quarter after briefly struggling to break the full-court press La Joya Palmview coach Albert Camarillo brought at the end of the period.
Gamez found Garza for a wide open layup to give the Lobos a 48-45 edge with 1:30 left in the fourth quarter, during which La Joya Palmview outscored Brownsville Veterans 10-5.
Maddox became the first Chargers player of the game other than Maldonado to convert from three-point range when his trey in the final minute of regulation was enough to force overtime.
In the area round, Brownsville Veterans is set to face Corpus Christi Veterans Memorial, which defeated Corpus Christi Tuloso-Midway 79-67 on Monday.
“We didn’t play our best game, but we played good enough to win,” Gibson said. “That’s what it’s about right now. You lose and go home. The whole key is win and keep going, and we’re going to keep going. That’s why I’m proud of my kids.”