DENNIS SILVA II | STAFF WRITER
KINGSVILLE — Friday’s Class 4A boys basketball regional semifinal game between Wharton and Hidalgo was a quirky one.
Wharton earned a 57-43 win at Texas A&M University-Kingsville thanks to a dominant 21-6 first quarter. The Tigers (30-6) were fast and aggressive, and that overwhelmed the Pirates (31-6) in that first frame.
But Wharton, ranked No. 8 in Class 4A in the state by the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches, curiously eased off the pressure the final three quarters, allowing Hidalgo, ranked No. 19, back in the game. The Pirates became the aggressors, outscoring the Tigers 28-23 in the middle quarters and twice cutting the deficit below double digits in the fourth.
Still, Wharton’s depth (10 players played at least 10 minutes, and coach Matt Brown subs in five-man waves every 2-3 minutes) proved the final blow, as well as cold shooting from the Pirates (32.6 percent) and missed chances (9 of 17 on free throws).
“I think we were just tired,” Hidalgo coach Gus Sanchez said. “You really have to work hard against that team, and I think fatigue just got the best of us.
“Shots we’re used to seeing go in were falling short.”
The first quarter ultimately proved to be the backbreaker for the Pirates.
Wharton jumped out to as much as a 17-point lead and had Hidalgo out of sorts offensively. The Pirates had nine turnovers in the period, and the Tigers turned those gifts into easy buckets at the other end.
Wharton had 23 points off Hidalgo’s 21 turnovers.
“We had to adjust to their speed,” said Hidalgo senior guard Frankie Sanchez, Gus’ nephew. “They were fast, trapping hard and quick. That surprised us.”
The sight, however, was a pleasure for Brown.
“We came out with an intensity we didn’t have the first three rounds of the playoffs,” Brown said. “It was really nice to see us come out, get going, make some shots and ease the jitters. We calmed down early and that was big.”
Hidalgo did a better job beating the trap the rest of the way, and Wharton, for some reason, pulled back on its pressure, seemingly willing to ride its initial wave to a win.
But Frankie Sanchez, the leading scorer in the Valley, kept the Pirates close, hitting tough shot after tough shot, the only Pirate eager to challenge the Wharton defense. Not even a minute into the fourth quarter, Hidalgo trailed just 44-36.
“That’s a solid team,” Brown said of the Pirates. “They play hard, play together and they’re aggressive. We knew there would be no quit in them, and they’ve got one of the best backcourts I’ve seen. No. 20 (Sanchez) still made some shots, but we tried our best. They were contested shots.”
Fittingly, Wharton had the final say. The Tigers closed the game on a 13-7 run. Sanchez ran out of gas, finishing with 19 points and five rebounds, and he had no help other than backcourt mate Michael Espinoza (11 points).
No other Pirate scored more than 4 points, whereas the Tigers had five players score at least 6, led by Jesse Garza’s 11.
“We did a better job in the second half, but they had a five-in, five-out rotation and we just have a seven-man rotation,” Frankie Sanchez said. “We got tired.”
Frankie and Gus shared a long embrace after the game, emotionally drained, the two closing a storied run for the Pirates. Each of the last two seasons, Hidalgo finished its season ranked in state and a regional semifinalist.
As this particular chapter ends for the Pirates, it had a bit more meaning for the Sanchezes.
“He’s grown from a little kid, dribbling the ball around at 6 years old, to now a grown man,” Gus Sanchez said of Frankie. “He went out like he came in. He went out blazing, attacking, not backing down. That’s the type of kid he is.”