By ANDREW CRUM | THE BROWNSVILLE HERALD
Mia Paz found her shot and Hanna used that offensive production to pull away from PSJA Southwest.
Paz scored a game-high 24 points, including four 3-pointers, and the Lady Golden Eagles used a first-half offensive outburst and a rebounding advantage to build a lead and outlast the Lady Javelinas 68-35 in a non-district girls basketball game Tuesday at Hanna.
“I started off slow, but I had to be more confident in myself to shoot the ball,” Paz said. “That was the confidence I needed (after hitting her first 3) … as soon as I made one shot, I knew I would keep it going.”
Hanna used a pair of runs to end the first and second quarters and outrebounded PSJA Southwest 41-24 to build a double-digit lead in the first half and kept pulling away after the break.
“We shot the ball decently, but a lot had to do with our second and third-chance opportunities,” Hanna coach Luis Gonzalez said. “Mia shot the ball well and we had girls that are active on boards and that really helped us with our second-chance opportunities.”
The Lady Javelinas took an early lead in the opening quarter as Ingrid Cano hit a layup for a 5-2 lead. The Lady Eagles’ Jackie De la Rosa hit a 3-pointer to tie the game at 7 and then Reisheel Ocampo followed with a 3 as part of a 9-0 run to finish the quarter as Hanna took a 16-7 lead.
Paz got a hot hand in the second quarter as a 3-pointer pushed the Lady Eagles lead to 19-9. After the Lady Javelinas’ Lizbeth Melendez hit a pair of free throws to get the deficit back to 10, Paz hit another 3 to start a 12-0 Hanna run to finish the quarter. Paz had nine points in the second; all off 3-pointers, and the Lady Eagles took a 35-13 edge at the break.
“That’s a good shooting team,” PSJA Southwest coach Milton Galloso said of Hanna. “It’s a well-rounded team … everyone shot real well. They shot lights out. We tried to work out our defense to man-to-man, but we couldn’t focus on just one, we had to focus on all five (on the court).”
In the third quarter, Paz wasn’t done yet. She had a 3-point play that pushed the lead to 41-17, but Cano had a layup and Melendez followed with a pair of free throws and a bucket for a 6-0 run for PSJA Southwest to cut it to 20. Melendez scored 11 points in the quarter, but Paz scored seven and kept Hanna in front, 47-28.
The Lady Eagles outscored the Lady Javelinas 21-7 in the final quarter to seal the victory a week before the start of district play.
De la Rosa finished with 12 points, Karen Garza had 11 points, Ariana Arceneaux pulled down 11 boards and Paz added five steals for Hanna.
Melendez finished with 18 points and five rebounds and Kim Bucio added six points and seven rebounds for PSJA Southwest.
The Lady Javelinas couldn’t find their rhythm on offense enough to keep up with Hanna’s output.
“I though we did a decent job (defensively), but on our offensive end we have to capitalize,” Galloso said. “We have to make our free throws and make the (close) shots. We just couldn’t click (on offense).”
For the Lady Eagles, Gonzalez was happy for the win, but he knows there’s still work to do ahead of district.
“I’m proud of the girls,” he said. “They played great, but we’re still trying to get better, day-by-day, practice-by-practice, game-by-game because next Tuesday is our first district game. I don’t think we’re there yet.
“If we shoot the ball well and play good, tough defense … if we limit our turnovers, we can be a very dangerous team.”
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.