BY JON R. LAFOLLETTE | STAFF WRITER
MISSION — Mission Veterans coach Romeo de la Garza hinted that his Patriots were fatigued after winning the Mission Thanksgiving Basketball Classic championship Saturday at Nuehaus Gym.
“It’s been a long two days,” de la Garza said. “We played two games (Friday) and two games (Saturday).”
Credit such a modest quote as good sportsmanship, but the results on the hardwood proved otherwise as the Patriot’s easily ran away to a 66-34 win over Eagle Pass in the title game.
Mission Vets controlled the contest from start to finish, and never trailed while overpowering a diminutive and undermanned Eagles squad. The Patriots’ offensive game plan was elementary yet effective, run.
“With this team, that’s what we want to look to do,” de la Garza said. “We want to look to wear people down. I feel like our conditioning is good where it’s at right now, and it’s only going to get better.”
The Patriots (11-0) exhausted Eagle Pass (6-1) on both sides of the ball. Defensively, they employed a swarming full court press which converted several Eagles turnovers into easy transition points. On offense, Mission Vets muscled their way to the rim at will.
“We just ran out of gas,” Eagles coach Ernesto Reyes said. “It’s a long trip. We’re traveling six hours away from home and we just got tired.”
Eagle Pass had no answer for Patriots senior forward Jaycobb Hinojosa, who could only be guarded when he was sitting on the bench. Hinojosa scored a game-high 19 points on 9-of-14 shooting. Be it breakaway layups, strong drives to the rim or a third quarter bomb from behind the arc, Hinojosa was close to automatic when the ball left his hands.
“My friends and I, we do the things we’re supposed to do,” Hinojosa said. “They did their part, so I wanted to do my part to help them out.”
Hinojosa’s performance earned him tournament MVP.
“He brings a lot of energy,” de la Garza said. “If you get him in the open floor, good things are going to happen. And, if he’s defending and in passing lanes, he makes it tough for teams to get into their offense.”
Teammates Jesus Vasquez and Rigo Peña were each named to the All-Tournament team. Both finished with nine points in Saturday’s win. Their individual honors exemplified a strength de la Garza sees in his roster.
“One thing we have is a lot of depth,” he said.
The sixth man for Mission Vets was sophomore Adam Solis, who scored nine points off the bench in addition to a pair of rebounds and two steals. Solis was a member of the varsity team a year ago, but saw limited playing time due to injuries.
“Adam is the type of kid that, once he gets going, he’s going to give us some good minutes,” de la Garza said.
The Patriot’s weekend-long tenure at Mission High School wasn’t a series of games as much as it was a collection of blowouts. Mission Vets won all four of its games by an average margin of 30 points.
“I tell the guys every time we step on the court that we’re not playing against an opponent,” de la Garza said. “We’re playing against our own potential and where we want to be.”
The Patriots will have a week off before facing Edcouch Elsa on Dec. 9
“We’re going to enjoy this,” de la Garza said. “But then we’ll get back in the gym and work on things that we need to correct.”