BY TECLO GARCIA | SPECIAL TO THE MONITOR
MERCEDES — Brownsville Veterans scored 14 fourth-quarter points and held Mercedes to just three in the last four minutes to secure a key District 32-5A victory 53-47 over the host Tigers on Friday night.
Guard Aaron Villarreal and post Alex Marquez sparked the fourth-quarter run. After the game was tied at 43 with five minutes remaining, the Chargers outscored the Tigers 10-3 the rest of the way. With the win, Brownsville Veterans improved to 25-3, 7-0, while Mercedes dropped to 19-5, 6-1.
Villarreal, a 6-foot-2 senior, led the Chargers with 16 points. Marquez scored 11 with 9 rebounds, and guard Kevin Gomez added 12 more. Chargers coach Larry Gibson said his team’s experience made the difference down the stretch.
“ They played us a great game. We knew it was going to be a good game. We’ve seen them two or three times, and it was their quickness that hurt us,” said Gibson. “They are just quick, and it was hard for us to adjust to it. Finally in the fourth quarter we adjusted to it a little bit and got a couple of easy buckets.”
The game was a real see-saw affair, with neither team taking more than a five-point lead until the fourth. Back and fourth the two district heavyweights absorbed each other’s blows. Vets, with the decided height advantage, continually dropped the ball inside for short buckets. Mercedes, with the edge in quickness, routinely drove past Vets defenders for shots in the lane.
But both teams had their miscues, as well. Veterans turned the ball over 20 times in the first three quarters. Mercedes missed some close shots it ordinarily makes and had trouble figuring out the height issue.
But even so, the game was up for grabs late in the fourth quarter. Villarreal said the Chargers were fortunate to keep their composure and defend in such close game.
“ Coach said it was going to be a high-energy game and that the fans were going to get to us, but we just locked in and focused on the game,” said Villarreal, who scored five points in the final period. “We worked on double teaming them. That’s what we had to do. We worked on that all week, and we did a good job tonight.”
Mercedes guards got their fair share of points, but they came at a cost. They missed many more shots than they made, but yet they were still in the game in the final period. Rey Rincon scored 19 and Ryan Reyes poured in 12 for the Tigers.
Tigers coach Rick Trevino said the Tigers still have a lot to play for and will continue to work toward the playoffs.
“ We had some opportunities. I just think two teams went at it, and they came out on top in the end,” Trevino said. “We are going right back to who we need to work on, one game at time. This is how we got here.”