McALLEN — The McAllen Rowe Warriors and Sharyland Pioneer Diamondbacks capped off their non-district schedules with a battle between two of the Rio Grande Valley’s top teams Monday afternoon at McAllen Rowe High School.
But the Warriors proved to be too much for the Diamondbacks as Rowe emerged with a 59-47 victory in a playoff-like atmosphere.
“I thought both teams played hard and our kids had a lot of fun doing it,” Warriors head coach Jose Yebra said after the win. “We made some good plays to be able to come out with a victory. It was a well-fought game.”
Diamondbacks guard Derek Luna, who played his freshman and sophomore years on the Rowe varsity team before transferring for his junior and senior seasons, faced off against his former squad on the same court he used to take wearing green and gold. It was a familiar sight as Luna lit up the gym again in front of the Rowe faithful, but this time while wearing the grey and red of Pioneer as the 6-foot-2-inch guard scored a game-high 23 points.
After falling behind 30-21 at the half, Luna and the Diamondbacks put together a 12-4 run to begin the third quarter. Luna drained two 3-pointers and Luke Padilla added one of his own to cut Rowe’s lead to 34-33.
But while Luna had it going for Pioneer, three Warriors were right there with him going blow-for-blow.
Rowe’s trio of Patrick Tarbutton, Darrin Everage and Louie Yebra each finished in double-figures scoring for the Warriors, combining for 45 altogether.
“We just trusted each other,” Everage said. “We knew we were going to have to work the ball around, play together, and that’s how we were going to get the win and that’s what we did.
Tarbutton’s 18 points led Rowe, while big second halves from Everage (14 points) and Yebra (13 points) put the game out of reach for the Diamondbacks.
“They were able to find each other in different areas and we played as a group,” coach Yebra said. “Luna is a great player, a kid that can score, and he did that today. We were concerned about him, but like we tell our kids, we have to play team offense, team defense and I think our kids did that today.”
Pioneer head coach Rene Gonzalez said this sort of test against a talented Rowe team is just what the Diamondbacks needed before the start of district play.
“That’s what we wanted, that’s why we schedule this game. We usually play earlier in the season, but coach Yebra and ourselves knew we wanted all the players together, including the football players, so we moved our game from November to late December to help us get ready for district,” Gonzalez said. “It was a great game. They have good shooters, we missed a lot of opportunities, but we have to give them credit.”
With their non-district seasons behind them, both the Warriors and Diamondbacks now shift their focus to their district openers where they’ll face off against rival schools.
Rowe will begin 30-6A action against McAllen High at 3:30 p.m. Friday at McAllen Rowe High School.
“We were playing a little sluggish the past couple games,” Everage said. “Los Fresnos beat us, that left a bad taste in our mouth, then we had a close game against Edinburg North. We just felt we weren’t playing the way we’re supposed to, but we came out here and put everything together and we’re going into district play feeling confident now.”
Meanwhile, the Pioneer Diamondbacks will tip-off 31-5A play on the road against Sharyland High at 2:30 p.m. Friday.
“We’re still getting our legs underneath us,” Gonzalez said. “The whole thing is trying to gel and make a push in our district and hopefully make a playoff run. They haven’t all played together in a while, so everything starts in practice.”