By MARIO AGUIRRE | STAFF WRITER
PHARR — There’s no secret what Sharyland High is proficient in offensively — pounding the ball inside.
Teams anticipate it. They formulate a game plan around their 6-foot-5 bigs. They try to collapse and double team them, forcing someone else to step up. On Saturday, Andres Cantu made them pay. The senior point guard scored 9 of his 14 points in the final period, including three 3-pointers during that stretch, to lift his team to a 61-51 victory over PSJA North to win the Tri-City Tournament.
Cantu nailed three triples in the first five possessions to start the fourth quarter, and it helped Sharyland turn a seesaw battle into a 60-47 game with 3:35 remaining. For that, he was named the tournament’s MVP as Sharyland (16-4) secured its second title in as many weeks.
“Our inside game’s always there. We know that Pat (De La Torre) and (Jose De La Garza) are going to get their points,” Cantu said. “But I’m glad that our guards played good today.”
De La Torre scored a game-high 25 points, drilling 11 of 12 from the foul line. And De La Garza, their other big, netted 18.
The difference, of course, was Cantu, who had one of his better shooting games as of late.
Sharyland needed it every bit of it to dig itself out of a third-quarter rut. They built a 20-4 first-quarter lead as PSJA North (12-5) went 1-for-11 from the field. By halftime, the Rattlers led 26-23.
But in the third quarter, North was more effective in their pressing, utilizing their speed to offset their lack of height. And their shots started falling, as well, as they buried three 3s to start a 19-3, outscoring Sharyland 21-10 in the period.
Despite never checking out of the game, Cantu had his best showing in the fourth quarter, fueling a 12-3 spurt in which they held North to only one field goal until the 2:37 mark.
It was arguably Cantu’s best performance since shouldering the bulk of the point guard duties after his backup, Daniel Soto, transferred.
“To have him pick up that weight and do what he’s doing and have this team bounce back like that, it’s been incredible,” Sharyland coach David Keith said. “It’s nice to see him and his experience pay off in the fourth quarter.”
For all its struggles early on, North made the necessary adjustments after halftime to make it a ball game. They were more aggressive on the offensive end and their pressing was more effective. The Raiders’ also turned Romeo Williams more often in the post in an effort to bait De La Torre and De La Garza into fouling him.
That didn’t last long, though, before North got “3 happy,” as coach Jaime Gongora said, and the Raiders went away from their inside game.
“We had a good plan coming in, we just took too long to start executing it,” Gongora said. “I think our kids were nervous. Once we got over that and started shooting well and we used our speed, we got back into it.
“We didn’t play well enough to win the game, but our kids played hard and I’m really proud of them.”
Gongora called the C.E. Vail Tournament last week “a turning point” in the team’s season. Though they fell short of claiming the top prize, he said they established enough momentum to give them a sense that things are starting to come together.
“I just wish we could keep playing,” Gongora said. “We hit the (holiday) break at a bad time because I think we’re playing really good basketball right now. That’s why I was excited about this tournament.”
North was led by Matthew Palacios, who scored 20 points, including three 3s in the second quarter. Teammate Damian Fuentes added 11 points, including three long balls.