By ROY HESS, Staff Writer
Defeating Class 6A opponents in boys basketball is getting to be a healthy habit for the St. Joseph Academy Bloodhounds.
The Bloodhounds surged ahead to lead by double digits in the second quarter and never looked back en route to a 55-39 victory at home Tuesday against Mission High.
It was the third time this season the Bloodhounds (7-4) have won against a 6A foe. They previously beat Harlingen High and Weslaco East.
“It was great,” said Carlos Esteve, a junior shooting guard. “Here at St. Joe we’ve always believed that we could compete against 6A teams, and that’s what we love to do. We love to have big games here (against teams from the higher classifications). Those are the ones we really try hard to win.”
Added teammate Jorge Villarreal, a senior point guard, “It’s all about preparation. Since the beginning of the season we have been working very hard as a team. We focus more on defense so the offense comes by itself.
“It feels great to win a game like this, and especially (to do it) with the group of guys I have playing with me,” Villarreal added. “They’re my friends (in addition to being teammates), and I share a lot of great moments with them in and out of school.”
Villarreal and Esteve led the Bloodhounds with 20 and 15 points, respectively, against the Eagles of District 30-6A. Esteve hit three 3-pointers and Villarreal had two. Teammate Cesar Garcia added eight points.
The leading scorers for Mission High were Juan Escobedo with 10 points and Oscar de la Garza with nine.
SJA led 13-9 by the end of the first quarter and was up 29-14 at halftime after outscoring the Eagles 16-5 during the second period. The Bloodhoounds took a 42-29 advantage into the final quarter and went on to win by 16 points, 55-39.
“We’re trying to get ready for our (TAPPS) district,” SJA coach Samuel Lucio said. “We’re in a tough district, so we try to play all the 6A and 5A teams we can.
“We had some good moments tonight, but we still have a lot of work to do,” he added. “We got a little sloppy (with our play) at the end.”
The biggest lead of the night for the Bloodhounds was 23 points twice on back-to-back possessions during the third quarter.
SJA’s Pete Silvero scored on a drive at the 4:11 mark of the third period to make it 40-17 before teammate Rodolfo Cabido put a spin move on a defender and made a short jumper in the lane for a 42-19 advantage for SJA with 3:33 showing.
The closest the Eagles came to SJA’s lead was 12 points, 51-39, with 2:43 remaining when Mauricio Ramiro drained a 3-pointer from the top of the key.
“We just got our football players back, so we’re trying to get them into the rhythm of basketball,” Lucio said. “It’s going to take a little time, but we’ve got a month before our first district game, so we just have to keep working hard. We don’t have any more games this week, so we’re just going to get back to working on our fundamentals in practice. We’re lacking a little bit in the fundamentals right now, like just protecting the ball, moving the ball around and taking better shots. It’s some things that we’ve just got to work on.”
The next game for the Bloodhounds will be at Edinburg IDEA Quest on Tuesday.