BY NATE KOTISSO | THE MONITOR
CORPUS CHRISTI — McAllen Memorial spent much of Tuesday’s bi-district game playing catch-up against South San Antonio.
The Mustangs faced a 20-point deficit near the halfway point of the second quarter and chipped the Bobcats’ lead to three late in the fourth quarter but couldn’t muster much more in a 62-46 loss at Corpus Christi Veterans Memorial.
“I thought that they were really fast,” McAllen Memorial coach Clarisse Arredondo said. “I told myself that we were going to get back on defense, but we missed a lot of easy buckets underneath. You might say we ran out of gas, but I think we lost focus. We didn’t buckle down in the last two minutes.”
South San Antonio had a 17-point halftime lead thanks in part to Bobcats guard Destiny Hilliary, whose 16 first-half points kept McAllen Memorial (24-11) guessing. But the Mustangs came out of the locker room and tightened the screws defensively, holding the Bobcats to five points in the third quarter.
“We gave it our all,” McAllen Memorial forward Valeria Treviño said. “We came out hustling, trying to deflect every ball, getting each rebound and getting back in transition so that we could score.”
The Mustangs run continued into the fourth quarter. Senior Selma Regalado hit her second 3-pointer of the quarter to bring Memorial within 49-46 with 1:47 left in the period. On the next possession, Hilliary answered the Mustangs by converting a layup and free-throw attempt to put the Bobcats back up by six points. Hilliary led all scorers with 24.
Regalado’s 3-point shot would be Memorial’s last points of the game. She finished with 13.
“It’s my last year, and I knew that I had to step up as a senior and do something special on the court,” Regalado said.
“When we got to the fourth quarter, it was hard for us to run back and hustle,” Treviño said.
Missed free throws proved to be costly for Memorial. The Mustangs made 3 of 13 attempts in the fourth quarter.
“We were 40 percent from the free-throw line,” Arredondo said. “That was really poor on our part, but you can’t take away the comeback that my kids made. They wanted it so bad. I told my kids last year when we ended (in the bi-district round) that we’re not going be outhustled by anybody else. We’re going to run, run, run. That was our focus this year, but we’re going to have to do it again next year.”
Regalado played her final game as a Mustang.
“Win or lose, they’ll always be my teammates,” Regalado said. “Next year, I hope they do just as well as we did this year and make it to the second round. I love my team to death.”
Much of Memorial’s core will remain intact next season. The Mustangs will return guards Tani and Cori Talamantez, Treviño, and forward Valeria Garcia, among others.
“Selma’s been a key for us, but everyone else is a junior, sophomore or freshman,” Arredondo said. “The future looks bright.”