WESLACO — Weslaco East’s Jediah Rivens’ go-ahead layup in the final minute of the fourth quarter was the difference in a tense District 32-5A Tuesday night against Brownsville Veterans Memorial.
Brownsville Veterans had two chances in the final seconds to tie the game, but the ball rimmed out and the Wildcats moved to 3-0 in District 32-5A with a 43-41 win.
“This group has the potential to play like that the entire game,” Weslaco East assistant coach Joe Yanez said. “But, sometimes they slack. They still need to grow into that type of team, that they could be.”
With the final chance resting with Brownsville Veterans, the Wildcats’ defense made a play at the end to set up Rivens’ layup opportunity.
“We got outhustled there at the end,” Chargers head coach Albert Briones said. “Loose balls, they won all the loose balls, and that was the difference. We just could not make the easy ones there at the end.”
It was a game of runs as both teams scored in spurts in the highly competitive district game.
Brownsville Veterans was on the cusp of entering the fourth quarter with a nine-point lead, but that opportunity took a take a hit before the quarter with a 3-pointer from Weslaco East.
The lead completely evaporated in just 30 seconds with two more 3-pointers to set up the tight finish.
“We allowed their best shooters to have wide open shots,” Briones said. “Those guys could not have clean looks and going into the fourth quarter we gave up a couple of clean looks.”
The Chargers third quarter lead came off of points off of turnovers resulting into fast break opportunities. Brownsville Veterans started the half strong after clinging to a two-point halftime lead.
Weslaco East finished off the first half with a run after going down 18-10 to finish out the first quarter.
Rivens led the Wildcats in scoring with 13 points. EJ Garza had 11 points and Zion Rodriguez chipped in with nine points.
Alex Ocampos was the only Chargers player who finished scoring in double figures. Ocampos poured in 10 points.
Brownsville Veterans Memorial is now 1-2 in district. The Chargers hope to bounce back against Donna North at 1 p.m. Friday. Weslaco East takes on Mercedes at 1 p.m. Friday, as well.