By CLAIRE CRUZ, Staff Writer
Port Isabel’s regional quarterfinal clash with the Pleasanton Eagles ended just like it started, erasing the magical run the Tarpons put together in the middle.
The Tarpons showed a lot of fight but lost to Pleasanton 77-47 on Tuesday night at Kingsville King, ending a historic season. Port Isabel’s third-round appearance was just the second in program history, capping the winningest season for the Tarpons as they finished 28-9.
“(Pleasanton’s) a hard team to play, they’re a good team and play that fast-paced style, and we thought we were ready for it but it didn’t look that way,” Port Isabel coach Mike Hazelton said. “(Our guys) were resilient, they didn’t stop playing. I have three seniors that played their hearts out. … They’ve had great careers, and they’re going to be hard to replace. I’m going to miss them.”
After falling behind by 23 points early in the second quarter, Port Isabel got the comeback started with a 9-0 run against a rotation of Pleasanton bench players. But even when the starters returned, the Tarpons continued hitting big shots to maintain momentum and closed the deficit to 33-24 at halftime.
A strong defensive effort by the Tarpons kept the Eagles off the board for the first three minutes of the second half as the offense continued to close the gap.
“We had some open looks early but we weren’t hitting them, and then we came back and got a little more physical,” Hazelton said. “We told them if they could get it under 10 by half we got a shot … but then they hit a couple 3s and then the avalanche came.”
With 4:17 remaining in the third quarter, sophomore Kaiden Martinez hit a 3-pointer to cut the lead to 35-34. That’s as close as the Tarpons got as Pleasanton’s shooting got red hot and senior Dalton Hobbs turned up the defensive effort to shut down Port Isabel’s offense.
Senior Santiago Arguijo and freshman RJ Marquez scored all the Pleasanton points during the third quarter behind solid shooting from the field to build the advantage back up to 10 heading into the final quarter.
The fourth quarter looked very similar to the first, in which everything was going right for the Eagles and the Tarpons couldn’t buy a bucket. Pleasanton opened the game with a 20-2 quarter and closed it by winning the fourth 29-9.
“Hats off to Coach Hazelton, he did an excellent job with his kids getting them back into it,” Pleasanton coach Ricardo Marquez said. “I told our kids to just let it all out on the court and to keep their composure, that was one of the main things. We work really hard on (our outside shooting), so I told them to just keep shooting.”
The Eagles pushed the pace of the game until the final whistle and fed the ball downcourt with long passes after rebounds for easy buckets against a visibly frustrated Port Isabel squad in the fourth.
Hobbs blocked several shots and contested almost every Port Isabel attempt to help spark Pleasanton’s run during the final 12 minutes. He used his big frame in the paint to score eight of his 19 points in the last quarter.
Arguijo led all scorers with 28 points, and Marquez added 15 and hit three of Pleasanton’s seven 3-pointers.
Martinez matched that effort with three shots from behind the arc and 15 points for Port Isabel.
Senior Daniel Rinza scored 18 in his last game with the Tarpons. Hazelton said the three-year letterman started more than 100 games for the Tarpons and scored double digits in most.
“I had a heck of a year with these guys, they’re my brothers. All the adversity we went through, we just never gave up. It was a great season overall, and I’m really proud of this team,” Rinza said. “Coming in as a sophomore, I just wanted to contribute as much as I could and over the years it’s crazy how much I’ve improved, and having the bonds with everyone I played with was incredible.”