NATHANIEL MATA | THE MONITOR
RIO GRANDE CITY — Rio Grande City topped Roma 66-55 to even the season series in the storied Battle of Starr Country and, more importantly, keep pace in the District 31-5A race.
The rematch was delayed a few days due to inclement weather on Tuesday night, but once the action got underway, Rio Grande City (5-4) started right on time.
The Rattlers jumped out to a 12-5 lead that forced the Gladiators (4-5) to call timeout. While the start sure helped the cause, the four-quarter effort allowed the home side to hang on.
“Everything’s special about that (win),” Rio Grande City guard Jaime Covarrubias said. “Them coming to our house and beating them by 11, it was a good game and an amazing feeling.”
Covarrubias did his part on the scoring front with 15 points in the game. He netted eight in the final quarter, including two makes from beyond the arc.
“We lost last time. Now, we played together as a team. We helped out more,” Covarrubias said. “Coach (Juan) Aldape helped us out (by saying), ‘Help ball side. When you’re on the other side, you just gotta help out’. Playing together helping each other, it made a big difference.”
The difference was clear in the game’s fourth quarter, when composure and timely shooting were on the side of the Rattlers. The last frame started tied at 36, but Rio wouldn’t be outhustled, similar to the early going.
Covarrubias opened the quarter with consecutive baskets, Rodrigo Nuňez converted a crucial 3-point play and Frank Martinez found Mario Martinez in transition to extend the lead to 47-39 and send the home fans to euphoria.
As expected, the crowd was raucous for both teams, probably never louder than when Nuňez threw down a jam to make the score 53-45 and push the game out of reach.
“Those 10, 12 miles away from each other, man, they bring out the best in both teams,” Aldape said. “Both of us fought hard throughout the game. I think our fourth-quarter shooting the free throws kind of got us going to finish out the game.”
Rio’s defense was tenacious early, forcing the visitors to cough up possession and yield eight fast-break points before a timeout. Aaron Marroquin got the shooter’s roll on a 3-point attempt, and it seemed not much could go wrong for Rio Grande City during the first eight minutes.
The pace of the game went to another gear in the second quarter, and both teams tried to establish a superior run-and-gun style of offense. Roma played the cleaner quarter, and it showed with a 14-9 edge in the period.
Roma’s Noe Garza Jr. hit an up-and-under layup, Gilberto Garcia closed the gap, and finally a Juan Gutierrez putback knotted the game at 25 and restored the nip and tuck action the matchup is known for.
Rio held a 28-27 advantage at the break, and the third quarter showcased how little separates the two squads. Only 19 total points were scored, setting up the decisive fourth.
Garza paced the Gladiators with 14 points, and Leonardo Alanis had 12. Roma was plagued by poor 3-point shooting, only nailing three in the game.
Challenging shots and limiting open looks for the Gladiators lifted the Rattlers, and their 6-foot-9 big man pointed to that right away as a major factor.
“It’s just playing good defense,” Nuňez said. “At the same time, we know they can shoot the ball, and we can switch on that. With our team, we know we can shoot the ball. We just have to be confident, work as a team, pass the ball inside-out.”
The center accounted for two of the team’s five blocks. The others came on closeouts on Roma 3-point attempts.
“Today, we played as a team. We communicated. And without this team, we wouldn’t have done this,” Nuňez said.