By MARK MOLINA | THE BROWNSVILLE HERALD
KINGSVILLE — After trailing by 10 with 3:36 to play in the fourth to the King Mustangs (Corpus Christi), the Pace Vikings answered with one final run to force overtime.
Once there, the Vikings would not let their newly found lead and momentum slip away as they would outscore the Mustangs by seven in the extra period and hold on for an 86-79 overtime win in the Class 5A area playoffs Friday night at H.M. King High School.
“I told my kids that cool heads win hot games,” Pace head coach Jose Luis Ramirez said. “Mentally, we’ve been down 20 all season long and that’s our mentality all season long and this game was no different. We haven’t been challenged like this in overtime in a long time. It became a game of possessions.
“We got some stops, started scoring and just got a run in there and once we got the lead, it’s basically hustle plays.”
Up next for the Pace is a date with District 31-6A champion Nixon (Laredo) in the regional quarterfinals with a spot in the Region IV-5A tournament on the line.
“I’ve never been (in there third round) before,” Ramirez said. “We’re in new territory and I love it. I absolutely love it.”
The Vikings wasted no time erasing a double-digit deficit as five quick points from Jose Luis Lozoya and a three-point play from Julio Ortega on consecutive possessions made it 64-62 with 2:46 to play.
The Mustangs would keep the Vikings at arm’s length until the final seconds when Hiram Flores tied the game with a bucket with four seconds left to send the contest to over time.
“We didn’t want to go home,” Ortega said. “We wanted to go another round and we were not going to lose here. I believe in these kids. Everyone (on this team) is really good. Everyone puts in everything from points on the board, to rebounds and steals. Those big shots counted and we needed them.
The Vikings outscored the Mustangs 16-9 in extra time, fueled by a 9-2 period-opening run that featured a pair of Randy Aguilar 3-pointers that gave them the cushion they needed to put their adversaries away.
Despite dealing with foul trouble for most of the game, Aguilar had a big game for Pace, hitting nine treys on his way to a game-high 31 points. He scored 14 points in the fourth quarter and overtime combined.
“I had three fouls in the first half and ended up with a fourth in the fourth quarter so coach decided to sit me down and said my offense was better than my defense,” Aguilar said. “We wanted to get to Round 3 and we balled out. Everyone off the bench and on the court made it possible.”
Pace led 21-10 with 1:08 to play in the first, but King answered with a 15-0 run that lasted more than five minutes before Ortega ended the drought with a layup.
The Vikings then held a 35-31 edge before King’s Alberto Quintanar hit a 3 at the buzzer to make it a one-point affair at the break.
Trailing by three midway through the third, King finished the quarter on a 10-4 move, capped off by a three-point play by Kenyatis Turner to make it 51-48 Mustangs advantage after three.
King opened the fourth on a 13-6 burst, once again capped off by Turner, this time with back-to-back buckets.
Lozoya answered with a triple and a layup to spark Pace’s fourth-quarter turnaround.
Aside from Aguilar’s big night, Ortega chipped in 17 points and Flores followed with 11. Lozoya had eight points on the night, all in the fourth.
Turner finished with a team-high 22 and Ignacio Garcia added 20 for King.