By ANDREW CRUM, Staff Writer
Pace seemed to be in control, but didn’t hold a halftime lead against Mercedes.
The Lady Vikings clung to a slim lead at the break, but couldn’t get their offense going and were outscored 13-6 in the second half as the Lady Tigers came back for a 32-27 victory in a District 32-5A game Tuesday at Pace.
“We had a lot of layups that didn’t go in,” Pace coach Eddie Lozano said. “We played good defense, but when you don’t make layups or hit your shots … we had a good first half, but you can’t have a second half like that
“We still had a chance at the end, but they made a couple of baskets and we didn’t.”
Pace’s twins, Kaylynn and Katie Quezada, each scored seven points, including all the team’s points after halftime. They also combined for eight rebounds and six steals, but it wasn’t enough to offset poor shooting by the Lady Vikings in the second half nor Mercedes’ Kysha Saldivar, who had a game-high 13 points, including 10 in the first half.
Pace (6-4 in District 32-5A) trailed by three points in the opening quarter, but outscored Mercedes 11-6 in the second quarter to take a 21-19 lead at the break.
“I wasn’t really pleased with the defensive effort or with anything that we were doing (in the first half) honestly,” Mercedes coach Monica Meza said. “I told them we have 16 minutes to make a change, so the decision is yours. You have to hand it to Pace, we knew they were going to bring it and gave it everything they had.”
The Lady Vikings struggled offensively in the second half partly due to a better defensive effort by the Lady Tigers. Mercedes (8-2) took a 25-23 lead in the third quarter on a 3 by Jessica Zepeda and never looked back. Another 3 by Saldivar pushed the lead to 28-23 early in the fourth quarter. A 3-pointer by Katie Quezada got Pace within four points, but the Lady Tigers held off the Lady Vikings down the stretch in the district victory.
Ebony Casanova finished with six points — all in the first quarter — two rebounds and six steals and Rosa Salinas grabbed six rebounds for Pace.
Jacklynn Flores finished with 10 points, including a pair of 3s and four steals and Mika Vento had five rebounds and four steals for Mercedes.
The Lady Tigers totaled 17 steals and that pressure turned out to be the catalyst that shifted the game.
“Our defensive effort was a lot different in the second half. That’s what allowed us to give a little bit of push,” Meza said. “It was huge (to get the win on the road), but our next stretch is going to be tough.”
The district loss doesn’t hurt Pace much in the standings, but it must move on quickly.
“We have to recover from this and continue playing good defense and work on that offense,” Lozano said. “The defense kept us in this game and that will keep us in the rest of the season.”
MERCEDES 55, PACE 53
Pace was down by 14 at the break and nearly pulled off the win against Mercedes.
The Vikings outscored the Tigers 31-19 after halftime and had a few chances to tie the game in the final seconds, but came up empty.
“These guys never hang their heads, they keep fighting until the last buzzer goes,” Pace coach Jose Luis Ramirez said. “We had a chance in the end. We put our best shooter with the ball in the end, but it didn’t fall in. Mercedes is a tough team, they play hard and they made a lot of buckets. We missed a lot in the first half, but in the end we just ran out of time.”
Down by two points with nine seconds left, Pace’s Randy Aguilar rebounded a missed free throw and drove to the other end of the court and spotted up for a 3-pointer that just rimmed out. Teammate Hiram Flores grabbed the rebound in traffic and put up a shot at the buzzer that went through the net and would have forced overtime. But officials waved it off because it didn’t leave his hand in time as Mercedes (7-1 in District 32-5A) held off a furious rally by the Vikings (4-4) down the stretch.
“We know Pace is a very strong team, we didn’t take them lightly,” Mercedes coach Rick Trevino said. “We tried to get it to our playmakers, spread the floor and go to the basket. They hit some big shots as well and made it a good game.”
Julio Ortega led the way with 16 points, including 12 after halftime for Pace and nearly brought his team all the way back.
The Vikings trailed by nine points heading into the final quarter until Aguilar hit a 3 to cut it to six points, but Mercedes responded with a 4-0 run. Ortega had four points in a 6-0 surge that cut the deficit to four. And with under 10 ticks on the clock, Flores hit a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to two.
Mercedes’ Rey Rincon, who had a game-high 17 points, missed a free throw, but Aguilar and Flores couldn’t complete the comeback for Pace.
The Tigers hit four 3s in the first half and kept making runs to keep the Vikings at bay. Mercedes took a 7-point lead after the opening quarter and pushed the advantage to double digits by the break as Rincon put up 11 points and Ryan Reyes and Jaime Rodriguez scored eight points apiece by halftime.
Pace started to chip away at the deficit in the second half and cut it to nine points after Ortega and Andres Salgado each poured in six in the third quarter. Ortega and Aguilar combined for nine points in the final quarter, but the Vikings came up just short.
Salgado finished with 13 points and six rebounds and Aguilar had a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds for Pace.
Reyes finished with 11 points and three rebounds and Rodriguez had 10 points and five rebounds and a pair of steals for Mercedes.
The Tigers rebounded from its first district loss to Brownsville Veterans last week.
“This keeps us on track for a district championship,” Trevino said. “We got what we needed (Tuesday), even though it was sloppy at the end. It pushes us forward; it starts the second round right. It was very important to get this one.”
The loss drops Pace to even in district play, but now it must focus on earning a postseason berth.
“Mercedes and Brownsville Veterans are ahead of everybody else,” Ramirez said. “We’re fighting for third or fourth, it’s open and that’s what we fighting for. If we keep playing at the level we did in the second half, buckle down on defense and hit shots (we’ll be fine). If we can transcend what happens in practice to the games, we’ll be dynamite.”
Andrew Crum covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him at (956) 982-6629 or via email at [email protected]. On Twitter, he’s @andrewmcrum.