BY NATE KOTISSO | THE MONITOR
McALLEN — The top two teams in District 30-6A shared the court on Tuesday, and one of them continued its reign as the district’s best.
McAllen Memorial was propelled by a large third quarter run to down La Joya Palmview, sweeping the season series in a 63-37 win.
“Getting this win was extremely important,” McAllen Memorial junior guard Tani Talamantez said. “If we lost it, the girls would have been devastated, and I would have been devastated. I hope that we can get a victory in our next game.”
The Mustangs and Lobos couldn’t get their offenses off the ground early in the first quarter. Memorial scored its first basket three minutes into the game. Palmview didn’t score until the halfway point of the quarter.
“We were kind of being complacent offensively,” McAllen Memorial coach Clarisse Arredondo said. “We weren’t moving the ball and kind of holding it and looking around. We had way too many turnovers, and we had to stop fouling. They (Palmview) shot 10 of 12 on free throws. That kept them in the game.”
Memorial (21-10) came out with more intensity in the second half. The Mustangs owned a six-point halftime lead before beginning the third quarter on a 17-0 run.
“We faltered. There was a lot of miscommunication,” La Joya Palmview coach Anisa Reyna said. “We should have done a better job. The turnover rate went really high really fast. If we took care of the ball a lot more, maybe the gap would have been closer.”
Talamantez led all scorers with 15. Her freshman sister, Cori, chipped in with 14 points of her own after falling on the left side of her hip on a layup attempt during the second quarter.
“I had the (hip) injury last week during practice,” Cori Talamantez said. “It was really bad at the time, but the pain was going down each day. The training staff put a foam pad on my hip in case I fall on it again.”
“I was sad for her, but also kind of angry that she (Cori) got hurt in the first place,” Tani Talamantez said. “I wished she hadn’t put herself in that kind of position, even though she was trying to get a bucket for the team. I felt that hurt, because she tried hard, and she had to go through pain.”
Cori returned to the game at the 3:48 mark of the third quarter and made her first shot attempt after re-aggravating her hip.
“It really brought my confidence back up again,” Cori Talamantez said. “I thought, ‘OK, I’m back. I’m ready to go hard and bust my butt again.’”
The win all but clinches a second consecutive outright district title for the Mustangs, who are now 9-0 in 30-6A and own a three-game lead over the Lobos (19-13, 6-3) with three games remaining. Memorial can make their title official with a win Friday against Mission High.
“We know everyone’s still after us,” Tani Talamantez said. “We have to work hard as a team. No goofing off, no fighting or arguing with each other. It’s a burden, but we’ll get through it.”