MARK MOLINA | Staff Writer
MERCEDES — The Pace Vikings found themselves locked in an up-and-down first half against the Mercedes Tigers full of quick drives to the basket and long balls.
When the second half came, Pace used defense to tilt the momentum in its favor.
The Vikings’ offense used those stops to get into the fast break and gain the separation it needed on its way to a 71-62 District 32-5A win over the Tigers on Saturday afternoon in Mercedes.
Pace opened the second half on a 10-2 run and held Mercedes without a field goal for the first four minutes and 20 seconds of the third quarter to take the lead for good.
“The adjustment we had to make (at half) was to get back defensively and stressing defense a little bit more,” Pace coach Jose Luis Ramirez said. “We do that all the time, but sometimes you just forget. I thought (Mercedes) was able to get some easy buckets on us. We were able to slow them down a little bit because they were fast attacking and have a lot of really talented kids. We made it a point to stop the fast break first, and I think that was the difference in the ballgame.”
The first half featured eight lead changes, with Pace knocking in six 3-point shots and Mercedes finding success in the paint for easy scores.
While Pace got off and running after the break for easy buckets in transition, Mercedes got hit with the turnover bug.
“(Pace) was digging into us from the start,” Mercedes coach Rick Trevino said. “We began dribbling off our foots and fumbling the ball. Pace plays solid defense, and we were ready for that from the start. We didn’t score for the first four minutes of the third quarter, and that’s very uncharacteristic of us. We had some great looks, but we were just flat and couldn’t hit anything. I don’t know what else we could do there … that was probably the worst second half I’ve seen us play. Give Pace a lot of credit. If we don’t score, they’re going to make it a track meet and continue to score.”
The Vikings (3-0 in district) had four players in double figures on the day, led by 14 from both Jose Luis Lozoya and Alex Agado — who had four treys — and 10 from Cristian Guajardo and Baltazar Hinojosa.
Mercedes’ Brandon Lozoya led all scorers with 19, and Jesse Fuentes followed with 14 and Caleb Arthur added 10.
Pace had the long ball going early in the first quarter, with Emilio Pardo opening the game with 3 and Jose Luis Lozoya following soon after to make it 8-4.
Mercedes finished the quarter up three, however, as Brandon Lozoya fell into an early rhythm with seven first-quarter points.
Fuentes took over in the paint for the Tigers during the second quarter, scoring 10 points to help Mercedes gain momentum and a one-point lead, but a 3 from Agado late in the quarter gave Pace the lead right back.
The Vikings went into the break up 38-37 following a Mercedes basket and a pair of Pace free throws.
“That’s the game today,” Ramirez said. “The game is let it rain from out there. I have a lot of confidence in my kids, and they have a lot of confidence in their shots. We rely on those outside shots, but when they are not falling we look for another way to score.”
The Vikings did just that in the third as Jose Luis Lozoya and Rafa Recio each put in a pair of buckets in the paint to help fuel what ended up being a 10-2 start to the half.
Mercedes trailed by nine late in the fourth and five quick points from Brandon Lozoya made it 60-56, but an Hinojosa three-point play on the other end helped Pace extend its lead and shut the door for good.
“We cut it to four, and all of a sudden it was a real simple missed layup or a mistake,” Trevino said. “No doubt (Pace) is solid, but we shot ourselves in the foot left and right. Pace was missing some shots, too, and let us hang around a little bit, but they just pulled away with it.”