By MARK MOLINA | Staff Writer
SAN PERLITA — The San Perlita Trojans felt they let their emotions get the better of them in their first loss against the San Isidro Tigers, as technical fouls and ejections preceded them blowing a double-digit lead.
While there was plenty of emotion this time around, the outcome was different.
Tige Johnson exploded for 28 points, including a pair of emphatic dunks to close the night, as he led the Trojans to a 78-61 District 32-2A victory Tuesday night at home.
The Tigers trailed by five points after an up-and-down first half, but an 8-2 run from Johnson that included back-to-back three-point shots to open the second half gave the Trojans the cushion to get off and running.
“I think the first half was a lot closer than we like because we were turning the ball over way too much,” San Perlita coach Nate Garza said. “We went in at halftime, corrected the things we needed to correct and I think that’s why you saw the difference in the second half. We went out there and executed. I’m proud of the guys because they came out and made the adjustments, and sealed the deal tonight.”
The loss is San Isidro’s first in district play and drops them to 4-1, and into a tie for first place with San Perlita.
For the Tigers, second-half turnovers gave the up-tempo Trojans life to attack the rim on the other end and hit wide-open transition treys.
San Perlita also forced San Perlita’s big man, Genaro Elizondo, into foul trouble and out of the game at the 1:21 mark of the third quarter, as the Tigers were outscored 41-29 during the second half.
“We had key turnovers there, and my big man got in foul trouble,” San Isidro coach Rolando Garza said. “That hurt us in the rebounding part. As soon as he sat down, it was an uphill battle. We tried to fight back, but turnovers hurt us. We ran with what we had and gave it our best shot, but I thought that was a key part of the game.”
San Isidro had three players in double digits, led by Mando Reyes’ 16 points. Allen Flores and Elizondo each scored 15.
For the Trojans, Johnson was the lone player in double digits but was assisted by nine points from both Julian Herrera and Jake Howell.
The Tigers led 6-2 early before the Trojans mounted a 15-6 run led by Johnson, who had 10 first-quarter points.
The Trojans led 21-17 after the first and never trailed again.
After San Perlita pushed the lead to 13 midway through the third quarter, a Reyes triple and a layup made it 49-41 with 2:49 to go in the third.
The Trojans put the game out of reach with an 11-2 run to end the third quarter and never let up, leading by as many as 20 in the fourth.
“When we played them the first time at their place, we had a big lead,” San Perlita’s Nate Garza said. “We made costly mistakes that cost us the game in that one. Our players learned from that situation that no matter how much we’re up by, it’s never done until the end of the ballgame. So they made sure that they closed the deal out, stayed calm, collected, and kept their emotions in check.”
Rolando Garza said his San Isidro team won’t hang its head with three games left on the schedule, which include games against La Villa, at Santa Maria and at Lasara.
“We have to finish strong,” the Tigers’ coach said. “We have a couple of out-of-town games, and we have to finish strong. Those are going to be key games. We’ll just see what happens; we have to get those games.”