BY TJ GARCIA | SPECIAL TO THE MONITOR
WESLACO — Tuesday’s game had all the makings of a trap game for the Weslaco Panthers.
Fresh off five straight impressive victories — including one over powerful Los Fresnos the last time the team took the floor — Weslaco welcomed 13-10 Weslaco East into their gym Tuesday night.
A letdown was only natural. But the malaise only lasted for about a half before order was restored.
In the second half, Weslaco High (5-0, 24-4) unleashed Braxton Bloomquist and Justice Free, shackled Weslaco East shooters and broke open a close game to beat the Wildcats going away 58-42 and stay perfect in District 32-6A.
Bloomquist, a 6-foot-2 guard, went over the 1,000-point mark with a hoop in the fourth quarter, scored 19 points and dished out 6 assists. Meanwhile, Free, a 6-foot-3 post, notched 18 points to go with 7 rebounds and 3 blocks. Weslaco East had no answer for either player, and simply relied on its 3-point shooting to try to stay in the game.
That long-distance shooting tactic worked in the first half, when the Wildcats drained 7 of 13 attempts from 3-point range and went into intermission trailing just 29-27. However, in the third quarter, the Panthers took off on a 12-0 run before the Wildcats were finally able to get on the board with 1:40 left in the period.
Weslaco outscored Weslaco East 18-4 in the third and took a commanding 47-31 lead behind Free and Bloomquist. The Panthers never relinquished the lead.
“We go inside a lot. We can go inside and out. I just know that we can, and we just have to get them (players) to understand that,” Weslaco coach Gabe Valdez said. “But they (East) shot the ball really well today, and we had to make some adjustments in the second half to try and limit that, and luckily we did that.”
The Wildcats (13-11, 4-2) were cold in the second half as the Panthers defended well. After shooting better than 50 percent from three in the first half, Weslaco East made just 3 of 15 from beyond the arc in the second half.
Weslaco East was lead by Jacob Hidrogo (12 points) and Felix Jimenez (11 points).
For Bloomquist, a quiet junior and third-year varsity player, seemed a little uncomfortable with all the hoopla made about his 1,000-point mark. The accomplishment was announced during the fourth quarter, and he was awarded a basketball in a glass case after the game to mark the event.
“This is 100 percent a team thing,” Bloomquist said. “Without a team, you can’t even play the sport. So, ultimately it’s a team game, and you just try and hit shots.”