KEVIN NARRO | Staff Writer
LA FERIA—Eliza Rodriguez hadn’t had too much to talk about over her last few games, but on Friday, that all changed.
Rodriguez caught a hot hand and scored a game-high 20 points as she led Rio Hondo to a 51-31 win over Mercedes in the semifinals at the 46th annual Tommie Wiseman Tournament.
The Lady Bobcats will meet Valley View in the championship game today at 1:30 p.m.
“I felt good today,” Rodriguez said. “I felt good coming in because my previous games, I hadn’t done too well. During shoot around, I felt OK, but when I hit my first shot, I knew I was on and going to have a good game.”
Along the way, Rio Hondo has picked up some impressive wins. On Thursday, Rio Hondo beat Edinburg Vela 45-42 in overtime and followed up with a 52-30 win over PSJA High to earn a spot in the semifinals.
“We like to compete against big schools because it helps us get ready for district,” Rio Hondo point guard Natalie Martinez. “It helps us play at a faster pace, so we know and prepare for teams down the road. The wins we have been able to get, we stuck it through. Our team is built around our defense; that is one thing we can do and that is what we stuck with during this tournament.”
Rio Hondo wasted no time against the Lady Tigers. The Lady Bobcats jumped out to a 13-0 lead behind the 3-ball. Jazaline Ayala, Martinez and Rodriguez all hit from down town.
Martinez was another bright spot for Rio Hondo, netting 12 points in the win. In the third quarter, Rio Hondo pushed their lead 42-23 — its biggest lead of the game.
“We came into the game with a defensive game plan and I felt the girls did an excellent job of executing it,” Rio Hondo coach Victor Sauceda said. “We were fortunate to hit some shots from the outside and I felt that was the difference in the game.”
Valley View stuns La Feria
Valley View trailed all afternoon long until Daniela Garza drilled a three pointer in the final seconds against La Feria. The Lionettes managed to tie the game on a lay-up after full court pass as time expired.
In the overtime period the Lady Tigers kept the momentum going and rode a 13-3 run en route to a 57-49 win that sends Valley View to the championship game against Rio Hondo.
The semifinal was a tale of two halves. La Feria held a 16-point lead at the half and shot well from the floor but Valley View chipped away in the second half behind their defense and clutch shooting.
Garza finished with 15 points while Jimena Munoz had a monster game, netting a game-high 28 points.
“The adrenaline was running and one of us had to shoot the shot,” Garza said “We practice our 3-pointers a lot in practice and once I got the ball, I had the shot and I knew I had to take it. It was a clean open look each shot is 50-50 — we don’t know if it will go in but lucky for me it did.”
La Feria suffered its first loss of the tournament and will now play Mercedes for third place today at noon.
The Lionettes played a strong first quarter and in the second quarter they held their biggest lead of the game, 24-12 and led 30-16 at the half.
“We just had lapses on defense and we knew who the shooters were,” La Feria coach Angel Martinez said. “We had a few girls play most of the game and usually they will get subbed in, but towards the end I knew it would come down to who had better legs and I think Valley View was a little bit more in shape that we were.”
In the third quarter is where Valley View made some noise on offense and managed to adjust on defense and force turnovers. Munoz scored six points in the third quarter and helped trim the deficit to 30-25.
“We try to shoot a lot of 3s and when we are off I tell the girls; we need to find a different way to score,” said Valley View coach Arnold Martinez. “Our girl inside is very good and on the outside shots we have been shooting very well and we hadn’t been challenged throughout the tournament. I knew playing against La Feria it was going to be tough, they are always well coached and were on their home court.”
For La Feria, Alani Garza led the offense with 15 points, Maggie Cavazos finished with 11 points while Sabrina Castaneda scored 12 points in the loss.