BY NATE KOTISSO | STAFF WRITER
MISSION — The Rattlers were late early, but they finished the job late.
Thanks to traffic, Rio Grande City’s bus arrived at La Joya Palmview for a District 31-5A matchup five minutes after the scheduled 6 p.m. tip-off.
Despite facing a six-point deficit after three quarters, Rio Grande City outscored La Joya Palmview 14-4 in the fourth quarter to snag an important 41-37 road win Tuesday night.
“Some of our kids are in their first year on varsity or first year playing,” Rio Grande City coach Gustavo Valenciana said. “I felt like I needed to keep the girls relaxed and not have them feel so much pressure. We play in spurts, but because we play so hard, we’re in the game. That’s all we need. If you play as hard as you can, something good will happen at some point.”
The Rattlers (20-8, 4-2) were trailing by eight points when their rally began in the final quarter. Senior Roxy Morales, who led Rio Grande City with 16 points, nailed a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to five. Fellow senior Anaid Perez followed Morales’ 3 with a 3-pointer of her own to make it 35-33 with 5:22 remaining. Junior Alyssa Reyna gave the Rattlers their first lead of the second half, 36-35, when she followed an offensive rebound with a layup.
With the game tied at 37 and Rio Grande City holding possession, Perez took control of the remaining minute of regulation. After draining considerable time off the clock, Perez drove the ball through the teeth of the defense. She missed a shot attempt, grabbed the offensive rebound among the taller Lobos and drew a foul on a putback try with 31.3 seconds left.
Perez made one of two free throws to give Rio Grande City a 38-37 edge. On the next RGC possession, Perez was fouled and made both free throws. The 5-foot guard sealed the game when she intercepted La Joya Palmview’s inbounds pass and was fouled for the third time in the game’s final minute.
“I knew that if we were going to win, then we had to give it our all,” Perez said. “That’s all coach (Valenciana) ever asks us for. I had to give it all I had. Our goal is to get back to the playoffs. We’re hoping to get as many wins on the road as we can, even though they are pretty hard to do.”
“Anaid is very skilled, but sometimes she can be hesitant,” Valenciana said. “I tell her that she has to keep going, even if she isn’t having a good game. When we kind of struggle at the end of a game, she’s been very clutch for us. She came through in the end again tonight.”
If La Joya Palmview (2-4 in District 31-5A) won on Tuesday, it would have tied Rio Grande City in the district race at 3-3. Instead, the Lobos endured a nightmarish fourth quarter in a key district bout.
Senior wing Renee Flores had a strong start to the game, scoring 19 points through three quarters. But Flores committed four fouls in the fourth quarter and fouled out of the game with 8.6 seconds to play. She finished with 21 points.
“Turnovers hurt us, but we also had four possessions in a row where we didn’t have a shot attempt,” La Joya Palmview coach Anisa Reyna said. “One of our best free-throw shooters went 0-for-4. We have to make layups and free throws. That’s the game right there.”