By ANDREW CRUM | THE BROWNSVILLE HERALD
St. Joseph Academy battled TAPPS top-10 ranked Central Catholic (San Antonio) through three quarters, but the momentum shifted toward the visitors in the final quarter.
The Bloodhounds trailed by just four points, but cold shooting and foul trouble caught up to them and allowed the Buttons to pull away in the fourth for a 46-34 win during a TAPPS 6A District 2 boys basketball game Saturday afternoon.
“I think their size got to us, we didn’t do a good job of boxing out in the fourth quarter,” St. Joseph coach Sam Lucio said. “Our shots stopped going in … the momentum shifted quick. They were making their free throws and we didn’t. It’s hard to play defense when you have four (fouls) … we were trying to catch up and I’m telling them to keep the pressure up … it was tough there at the end for us.”
In the close-knit game, Central Catholic (19-9, 1-1 TAPPS 6A District 2) started the final quarter with a bucket and a three-point play from Henry Hilker to extend its lead to 37-28. The momentum gave the Buttons some breathing room and St. Joseph (15-9, 0-1) couldn’t capitalize. The Bloodhounds’ shots stop falling and when they went over the foul limit early in the quarter, Central Catholic took advantage with some clutch free throw shooting and gave head coach Bruce McConaghy his 200th career win. St. Joseph got within eight points over the final eight minutes, but never got any closer.
“The kids are the ones winning the games, I just happen to be on the bench,” McConaghy said of the milestone. “Two hundred is nice, but it’s not that earth-shaking … there’s a lot of guys with 200 wins, it’s nice though. Anytime you come down here and get a win, it’s good because they’re so well coached. It was a tough game … it could have gone either way until about three minutes to go.
“Henry hits some shots and that was really the difference (to start the fourth quarter).”
The Bloodhounds started the game on a 5-0 run on a 3-pointer by Pete Silverio and a jumper by Camilo Trevino. The Buttons got on the board with a pair of free throws by Clayton Thompson and soon got within 7-6 on a putback by Hilker. St. Joseph answered with another jumper by Trevino to go up 9-6. Thompson hit a jumper to keep it close, but Central Catholic trailed 10-8 after one.
The teams traded baskets to begin the second quarter until Hilker hit a free throw to give the Buttons a 13-12 edge. The Bloodhounds regained a 15-13 lead with a 3 by Carlos Esteve. But it didn’t last long as Hilker tied with a pair of free throws and then hit a 3 to give Central Catholic an 18-15 advantage. Trevino hit a jumper to get St. Joseph within one, but the Buttons hit a free throw and held a 19-17 lead at the break.
Central Catholic opened the third quarter with back-to-back layups by Thompson and St. Joseph answered with a jumper by Trevino to make it 23-19. Then Alex Conrad hit a pair of free throws for the Buttons, but Esteve hit a 3-pointer to pull within 25-23. Central Catholic responded with a 4-0 run, but the Bloodhounds received back-to-back buckets from Trevino to keep them close. A 3-pointer by Hilker pushed the lead to 32-26 before a putback by Cesar Garcia kept St. Joseph within four at the end of the third.
Trevino led the way for the Bloodhounds with 14 points, six rebounds and a block. Esteve had eight points; including a pair of 3s, and two steals and Garcia added five points, seven rebounds and four blocks.
Hilker had a game-high 16 points, including a pair of 3s, and five rebounds, Thompson had 12 points and seven rebounds and Conrad and Sam Gallardo combined for 15 points and 17 rebounds for the Buttons.
Central Catholic dropped its district opener to Antonian Prep (San Antonio) but still have work to do even after the win.
“Our three teams in district are very competitive,” McConaghy said. “We have to beat Antonian by more than seven and beat St. Joseph again to give ourselves a chance to win district.”
It was a tough loss for St. Joseph to start district, but it must have a short memory.
“We can’t let one loss effect us the rest of the season, we just have to go back to work,” Lucio said. “There was a lot of good we can take from this game, they are one of the best teams in San Antonio. I thought our defense was really good, the ball just didn’t go in for us (Saturday) … and that happens in basketball.
Free throws and rebounds are what win you games, not that we did a bad job, but we have to get better. The little things come up big in the end.”
Andrew Crum covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him at (956) 982-6629 or via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @andrewmcrum.