By MARIO AGUIRRE | STAFF WRITER
MISSION — McAllen Rowe doesn’t have the type of player it can consistently rely on to deliver 16 or 17 points a game.
What it does have, however, is a number of capable players who could either make up the difference or take over on any given night. On Tuesday, it was Deanna Spear, who scored a game-high 19 points, including 11 during the third period, to lift the Lady Warriors to a 47-42 road win over La Joya Palmview, creating a three-way tie for first place in the District 30-6A standings.
Spear led a spirited charge during the third quarter, single-handedly keeping Rowe in the game by scoring all but one of her team’s points during the period, before her team ultimately pulled away in the final quarter.
“She hit some big shots,” Lady Warriors coach Raul Vega said. “When she did that, our girls got pumped up. And all of a sudden, we saw that fire in her eye. All of a sudden, we all stepped up.”
Though it trailed 19-17 after a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Palmview, Rowe (14-12, 4-1) never seemed out-played during the opening half. The Lady Lobos (15-8, 4-1) relied heavily on Monica Noyola, who netted a team-high 14 points, including 10 by halftime.
But it wasn’t until other players got involved for Palmview that it began having more success. In fact, the Lady Lobos had five different scorers during the period, as it opened a 31-23 advantage following a Samantha Gutierrez 3-pointer with 1:38 remaining.
During that stretch, though, it was all Spear for Rowe. The junior kept her team in the game, completing a three-point play that brought Rowe within 33-29 to close out the quarter.
Later, she scored on a pull-up jumper to give the Lady Warriors a 37-36 edge, and then teammate Mayda Garcia (12 points) came through, hitting a corner 3 and a pair of free throws to put Rowe ahead 44-42.
Spear provided cushion down the stretch, nabbing a steal and draining a pair of foul shots with 22.5 seconds left to secure the win.
“It was all a team effort,” said Spear, who was one of two double-digit scorers for Rowe. “We wanted this more. We wanted this victory.”
The win created a three-way hold for first place, with Palmview having beaten McAllen Memorial, and the Lady Mustangs having knocked off Rowe.
With Memorial off Tuesday, Palmview could have used the win to take sole possession of first place in 30-6A. Instead, it’ll have to wait until their second-round at Rowe to avenge the loss.
“It could’ve gone either way,” Lady Lobos coach Anisa Reyna said. “I just think they made more shots down the stretch when they needed to. … But, hey, it was a good game.
“We’re going to pick ourselves right back up. It’s not set in stone (who’s going to finish first in district). We’re going to fight for it as much as we can and pull ourselves back up.”
Palmview had encouraging stretches Tuesday after seemingly relying too much on Noyola during the opening half. Going into the third quarter, it seemed Palmview was looking for different scoring options, and it got that with Noyola sinking one of her two free throw attempts that quarter, while Brittany Cano (13 points) and Gutierrez (nine points) stepped up.
“With a team of this caliber, you’re going to have to stop more than one player,” Vega said. “We were just ready to stop whatever they were going to throw at us. Fortunately tonight, we did enough (to win).
“It’s a tough district. It’s like I was telling the girls, if we don’t come out with this same intensity against every team in our district, we’re going to lose. Anyone can beat anyone on any given night. And we’re just going to have to show that maturity and come out tough every night.”