By ANDREW CRUM, Staff Writer
The St. Joseph Academy Lady Bloodhounds basketball team played like a team on a mission Saturday.
St. Joseph, just one week after losing to San Antonio Antonian by 25 on the road, got even at home as the Lady Bloodhounds’ Diana Garcia hit a free throw to break a tie with less than 20 seconds to play in an emotionally charged 54-53 victory in a TAPPS 6A District 2 game at St. Joseph.
After Garcia made good from the charity stripe to take the lead, the Lady Apaches still had a chance. The visitors moved the ball to halfcourt and called a timeout with just over 11 seconds remaining. Antonian then got the ball in the paint and had three or four looks but the SJA defense held steady until the buzzer sounded.
The district win was the first for St. Joseph (1-2 in TAPPS) and put it in a tie with the Lady Apaches (1-2). A win next week over Incarnate Word would move the Lady Bloodhounds into a three-way tie for the district title.
“The last game had the same intensity,” St. Joseph coach Cynthia Martinez said. “It’s huge for us because it gives us a chance for the district title. That next game is our whole year. That hasn’t happened since (the seniors) were freshmen.
“To put us in a position to where we might be in a three-way district tie, that’s everything.”
With the teams locked at 19 at halftime in a back-and-forth contest, St. Joseph senior Valeria Tapia took over in the second half during her final home game.
Tapia scored 19 of her game-high 23 after the break to lead the way. She had 11 points, including all seven points —a bucket, a three-point play and a pair of free throws — in a 7-0 run to start the final quarter, turning a two-point deficit into a 44-39 lead.
“I felt like I was in a groove,” she said of her second half output. “I feel like if I get lost, my team will get lost. I have to be in the game so they’re in the game. I have to be the leader out there.
“It feels great. It was my last home game … it’s amazing.”
Antonian’s Barley Boyle scored six of her team’s next seven points, including a 3 to take a 46-44 lead. Garcia answered with a trey to give the Lady Bloodhounds the lead and Tapia followed suit with a layup on the next possession for a 50-46 edge. As SJA clung to a 53-51 lead with just over a minute to play, Antonian’s Elena Tamez tied things at 53 with a pair of makes from the charity stripe.
After the teams fought for possession and the tiebreaking score, Garcia was ultimately fouled before stepping to the line for her game-winning free throw.
“Our leaders failed to lead,” Lady Apaches coach Patrick Harvey said. “We have certain ones we count on and they got lost in the situation. We didn’t overcome that.
“(St. Joseph) came out and took it to us (Saturday), they were better than us (Saturday).”
Garcia finished with 15 points — including four 3-pointers — with 13 of those coming in the second half. She also added four rebounds and six steals to her stat line. Frannie Huerta and Lauren Salazar added four points apiece for the Lady Bloodhounds.
Boyle finished with 15 points (13 after the half) and five steals. Gabi Teneyuca had 11 points and four rebounds and Avery Alva added nine points, four rebounds and seven steals for Antonian.
Martinez was happy to see Tapia break out in the second half and give her team a chance at another district title.
“She took over with her team, that gave her a lot of confidence,” the St. Joseph coach said. “It was beautiful. Our whole team played beautiful, they deserved that (win).
“It’s everything, you’re playing a game to win a district title (next week). It changed our season.”
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.