BY SAUL BERRIOS-THOMAS | STAFF WRITER
DONNA — PSJA Memorial’s aggressive defense held Sharyland High scoreless for the final moments of the game to win the Donna Dreamcatcher tournament championship game 49-45 on Saturday.
“It’s a big confidence booster,” PSJA Memorial coach Marisa Gutierrez said. “We needed this. We played tough games at the Weslaco tournament and tough games at the Border Brawl. So, we needed to come out here and finish strong to go into next week and then the following week, because we open up with PSJA North, and that is going to be a tough game.”
Sharyland High (14-7) sophomore guard Aydee Hinojosa fouled out late in the fourth quarter, which allowed Memorial (12-8) to hone in on senior Anna Marshall. The Wolverines denied passes to the post and forced turnovers to maintain their lead.
“It’s always hard to go against bigs, especially against Anna Marshall,” Gutierrez said. “She’s a tremendous player. She moves well and the height — we can’t grow anymore, that’s as big as we are going to get. But, we just have to play as big as we can. So, defensively, we try to speed up our game and use our speed for our defense.”
Marshall was named tournament co-MVP along with PSJA Memorial senior guard Alex Soto.
Soto scored early and often. She came out of the gates with two 3-pointers in the first quarter. Soto finished the first half with eight points and scored 20 in the game.
Three minutes into the third quarter Sharyland, was on a 12-0 run that gave the team a 32-25 lead, but Soto found her spot and dropped a three. That swung the momentum and sparked a 10-3 run for Memorial.
Plays like that earned the Soto the co-MVP, something she was very proud of.
“It’s my senior year,” Soto said. “So, basically, it is crunch time. I have to give it all I got to bring W’s to the team.”
Soto has been a sparkplug on offense for Memorial all season.
“She’s a crucial part of our offense,” Gutierrez said. “She is our moneymaker. She pulls through in tough situations. She’s got that quick trigger. She has improved a lot.”
Also a catalyst was Monique Deleon. The junior guard had 10 points and was crucial to limiting Sharyland’s Hinojosa on defense.
“We knew that they had a big post,” Deleon said. “So, we knew that our guards had to be quick on our feet. We have to prevent the ball from getting into the post by stopping the guards.”
Hinojosa finished the game with 11 points and a nasty gash on her chin.
“I can’t say enough about her,” Sharyland coach Dale Whitaker said. “She’s just a sophomore. She leads our team. She’s one of our captains. The way she was going in there and getting knocked around, and then she got a cut on her chin, she’s going to need stitches. How can you not love a kid like that?”
Marshall finished with 22 points.
There were 13 lead changes in the game. The close game gave Whitaker confidence in his team, despite the loss.
“What I told them was, they gave me a taste of what they are capable of,” Whitaker said. “I told them ‘I want to see that for the rest of the year,’ because, if they can give me that effort, then we will be fine. This game is exactly what we needed.”
Brownsville St. Joseph won the third-place game over host Donna High, 40-34.
Sharyland Pioneer beat Corpus Christi St. John Paul II, 36-35 for the consolation bracket championship.