BY TJ GARCIA | SPECIAL TO THE MONITOR
McALLEN — Sabrina Guzman scored 19 points and pulled down 14 rebounds Tuesday night to lead the McAllen High Lady Bulldogs over visiting rival McAllen Memorial 64-53 while exacting some revenge and notching a key district win.
The inspired Lady Bulldogs had four players score in double figures. They broke the game wide open after intermission when they went on a 13-0 run to start the third quarter led by Guzman’s gritty play, Victoria Alanis’ hustle and Alex Gamino’s three 3-pointers. The surge was not enough to put the game away, but it gave McHi a commanding lead that it never relinquished.
With the win, the Lady Bulldogs improve to 22-9, 8-2 in district, and keep a solid hold on second place in 30-6A. The Lady Mustangs, who entered the game winners of 10 straight district games, drop to 21-10 and 10-1 in district but are still in first.
McHi players, still in shock over the weekend killing of Lady Bulldogs softball player Ashley Garcia, said they took the court with her in mind.
“We had ‘Rest in Peace Ashley’ written on our shoes, so during halftime we just came and said ‘You know what? This game is for Ashley. We have to give it our all,’” said Alanis, a senior. “It’s Memorial. It’s our rival team. We wanted to play for her, and that’s what we did.”
After halftime, McHi finally began to play with purpose. When the second quarter concluded, the Lady Bulldogs were down 25-20 to a Memorial team that was out-hustling and out-shooting them. McHi had 14 turnovers in the first half and Memorial was simply playing better behind Ebony Johnson (14 points) and Selma Regalado (11 points).
But then, the Lady Bulldogs outscored the Lady Mustangs 25-6 during the third quarter. McHi’s defense came alive and pressured Memorial into numerous turnovers and missed shots. Still, Memorial fought back and responded with a 15-6 run to start the fourth as Johnson heated up. The Lady Mustangs got close, but the deficit was too much to overcome.
As time depleted in the fourth quarter, the game came down to a free-throw shooting contest, with McHi still ahead 51-46. McHi went on to hit a few key hoops and canned 11 of 16 free throws to close the game out.
“Our free throws played a huge, huge part in the win. Last time we were off on our free throws and it cost us,” McHi coach Stephanie Cantu said. “This time, my girls were really focused and never lost the intensity, and we remained calm. We didn’t panic, and that was a major difference.”
Gamino, at guard, finished the night with 15 points. Alanis, who played out of position at guard, had 13, and Heaven Wilbanks notch 10 points while playing solid defense. Both teams played without a key starter. McHi’s Brianna Coffee sat with an injury, as did Memorial’s Victoria Izaguirre.