By JOSHUA McKINNEY, Staff Writer
An abysmal third quarter led to a second-round exit for Los Fresnos in the UIL playoffs Friday.
The Laredo Alexander Bulldogs erased a 15-point deficit in the third quarter to beat the Los Fresnos Falcons 63-55 in a Class 6A area-round game at Corpus Christi Carroll.
Turnovers in the second half caused by Laredo Alexander’s defensive ball pressure mixed with poor free-throw shooting (7-17) were the culprits in the Falcons downfall.
“(Laredo) Alexander’s a great team. I’m not going to take anything away from them,” Los Fresnos coach Marco Hinojosa said. “We shot ourselves in the foot. We missed at least 10 free throws at pivotal points in the game. That’s not on them, that’s on us. We turned the ball over too, too many times.”
“That’s credit to them, but I know we’re better basketball players than that,” Hinojosa added. “But it is what it is. Credit to Alexander. They played a heck of a game.”
Ricky Ramirez scored a game-high 27 points and had eight steals for Laredo Alexander. Devin Rodriguez had 11 points, and Kike Ramos scored 11 points and grabbed 13 rebounds to finish with a double-double.
It was a memorable win for Laredo Alexander coach Luis Valdez, who’s in his 14th season leading the school’s boys asketball program.
“I’ve been in basketball many, many years,” Valdez said. We’ve won regionals and been in the Elite Eight, but this is one of the finest victories we’ve had because this was a very good Los Fresnos team. I’m very, very proud of everybody.”
Hugo De La Cruz, playing in his final game for Los Fresnos, led the team with 11 points to go with six rebounds and four assists. Jordan Urbina tallied 10 points and Albert Alarcon had nine.
Los Fresnos came out strong in the first half, using a high-pressure defense to cause 15 turnovers to help build a 36-24 lead at the break.
Alarcon hit a 3-pointer to put Los Fresnos up 39-26 early in the third quarter, but it was all downhill from there for the Falcons.
Ramirez scored a bucket off a Los Fresnos turnover to start a 15-point streak, and Alexander’s defense flipped the script on Los Fresnos by forcing turnovers and scoring fast-break points.
Valdez said the decision to move his team back into a high-pressure defense changed the momentum of the game.
“We started with a zone and we thought we were going to contain them,” he said. “That wasn’t very smart. Our system is more what you saw after that. Trapping, rolling, running and jumping, and we did a good job. We feel like if we do that, we’re going to give ourselves a chance to win at the end. That’s what the kids did. They believed.”
Ramos’ bucket at the end of the run tied the game 39-39 with 4:17 remaining in the third quarter.
On the next possession, De La Cruz drove the lane while double-teamed and threw a behind-the-back pass to Urbina. Urbina hit the wide-open trey to restore the Falcons’ lead.
Laredo Alexander led for the first time with 1:14 left in the third when Marco Pena found Ricky Ramirez with a pass. Ramirez drained the 3 to give the Bulldogs a 46-45 lead, which they held going into the fourth quarter.
It was reminiscent of Los Fresnos’ third quarter against Weslaco East in bi-district play, where the Falcons lost a nine-point lead in the third quarter before hanging on for a victory. But unlike that game, Friday’s outcome sent Los Fresnos home for good.
“The third quarter killed us again,” Hinojosa said. “We didn’t come out. We told the kids we have to win the third quarter and we’re going to be okay, and we didn’t come out and respond in the third quarter like we did in other games.”
“We can go on and on and on, but at the end of the day, Laredo Alexander’s a good team,” he added. “I wish them the best from here on out. Hopefully they can do their good the rest of the way.”
Los Fresnos had a chance to take an early lead in the fourth when De La Cruz was fouled on a three-point shot, but he only managed to make one and tie the game.
De La Cruz gave the Falcons the lead on their next possession with a 3-pointer to make it a 49-46 game. Later, Laredo Alexander took the lead again when Urbina committed his fifth foul of the game to give Ramos two from the charity stripe. Ramos made both to move ahead with 2:16 remaining.
Johnny Gomez scored a bucket in the paint to give Los Fresnos the edge with 1:56 to go.
Ramosthen scored on a layup to put Laredo Alexander ahead 55-54. Ramos’ bucket spearheaded a 10-1 run to close out the game and send the Bulldogs to the next round.
Los Fresnos ended the season with a 28-8 record, including a 13-1 mark to win the District 32-6A championship for the second-straight season.
“The season’s been great,” Hinojosa said. “The kids are great kids. I know they gave me their all. I’ve been pleased with the whole season. I’m very pleased with everything. It’s my third year here and I want to say we’ve turned things around.
“Won district and bi-district last year, won district this year and bi-district,” he added. “We had a chance to win area. Last year, we got beat by (27 by Laredo United), so I know we’re getting better and we’ll be back again.”
Joshua McKinney covers high school sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him at (956) 982-6663 or via email at [email protected]. On Twitter, he’s @joshuabvherald.