BY NATHANIEL MATA | SPECIAL TO THE MONITOR
McALLEN — Two teams unbeaten in district entered. Only McAllen Memorial was able to escape undefeated after outlasting McAllen High 51-46 in Friday’s district 30-6A tilt.
Lady Mustangs senior forward Ebony Johnson played the entire game and had her fingerprints on every aspect. She scored 17 points and disrupted shots on defense, tallying 6 blocks.
“We always want to win against rivals. We just wanted it,” Johnson said. “Every single person on the team wanted this win. Before the game, we said, ‘The intensity and energy needed to be there.’ That’s why we did so well.”
Memorial improves to 16-9 overall and 5-0 in district play, while McHi falls to 17-8 and 3-1 in district games.
McAllen hadn’t lost in eight straight — dating back to Dec. 3 — coming into the game. The Lady Bulldogs never led in Friday’s game but made the last two minutes interesting.
The Lady Bulldogs trailed by 11 going into the final quarter and outscored the host Mustangs 17-11 the rest of the way. The Lady Bulldogs missed three out of four technical free throws with 38.7 seconds to play. Conversion of the foul shots would have given the Bulldogs the ball down only 2 points.
Memorial hung on to win the game the team dominated for nearly 30 minutes.
The Mustangs jumped to an 8-0 lead in the first quarter. Memorial had an opportunity to knock McAllen High out early but was plagued by missed layups in the first half. Using a 12-3 run in the second quarter, Memorial went into the half leading 29-19.
Memorial coach Clarisse Arredondo praised seniors Victoria Izagurrie and Johnson, who combined for 33 of 51 Mustang points.
“Ebony did a good job of getting hot from outside early, knocking down a couple of threes,” Arredondo said. “Later in the game, I told her to post up and be aggressive and to keep doing that until she started fouling.”
Johnson never got into the foul trouble her coach warned her about and was a force inside. She tallied 6 blocks and affected McHi’s ability to drive the lane.
Arredondo was happy with the hustle plays that kept her team in front. Active hands led to steals, and second chances kept McAllen off their game.
“All my kids went hard for 32 minutes. Rivalry games really amp them up, and they wanted this one bad,” Arredondo said. “This (game) is extremely important. Obviously, we were both undefeated, and now we are in the driver’s seat (in district).”
The Bulldogs will need to solve turnover issues that plagued their ability to set their offense and get into a halfcourt rhythm.
McAllen High coach Stephanie Cantu was disappointed following the game, believing her team had the ability to play better.
“It hurts when your girls beat themselves,” Cantu said. “I’m not going to take anything away from Memorial. They’re a good team. They’re quick, and I knew that their experience was going to get us a bit, and that’s what happens. We went away from what we’ve been doing right. We didn’t protect the ball like we needed to.”
Both teams remain the top two squads in the district, but now it’s Memorial who sits alone on top, without a district loss.
McAllen Memorial is back in action at La Joya High on Tuesday night. McAllen High will welcome Juarez-Lincoln on Tuesday.
McHi and Memorial will clash again on Jan. 31. Three games will remain in the district season, with one team likely on the verge of the 30-6A title.