By STEFAN MODRICH, Staff Writer
ROCKPORT — EJ Nieto swished a 3-pointer at the buzzer.
It was that otherwise meaningless bucket at the end of regulation that signaled the end of an era.
Those three points were the senior’s last as a San Perlita Trojans player, marking the end of an impressive run by Tige Johnson, Wyatt Rhodes and Gabriel Lopez together.
It was also the last basket the Trojans scored as a member of Class 2A, as San Perlita dropped its regional quarterfinal game Tuesday 86-60 against Weimar at Rockport-Fulton.
“(Nieto) has always played hard for me,” San Perlita coach Nataniel Garza said. “He really left it all on the floor. I couldn’t ask much more of him or the team. We just really fell short tonight. I was really proud of him for giving it his all the whole game.”
Nieto had 16 of his 26 points in the fourth quarter, a bright spot in a lopsided loss. Elly Terry had 12 points for the Trojans, and Lopez added nine.
“I tried my best,” Nieto said. “Once I saw the score, I knew it would be my last (game), and I just wanted to give it my all. It ended in a perfect way, with me making a 3.”
The Wildcats got out to a 24-14 lead and continued to score at a torrid pace, opening up a 48-31 advantage at the end of the first half thanks to the duo of sophomores Joey Ramirez (24 points) and Jose Ramirez, who set the bar with a 16-point first quarter and finished with 29.
Weimar led 72-42 at the end of the third quarter.
Garza said missing Johnson, the Trojans’ 6-foot-6 rim protector, after an injury suffered against Falls City in the area round, was a big blow against a Weimar team that exploited the vacuum left in the paint and forced the San Perlita coach to start three sophomores.
“We knew they were a good team,” Garza said. “With us being short-handed, we knew we were going to have to get after it a little bit more. … It just didn’t go our way, and we didn’t hit shots that we usually hit. It just didn’t bounce our way tonight. It was one of those nights.”
Moving forward, San Perlita looks forward to a team returning seven players and competing in Class 1A after being reclassified by the University Interscholastic League.
“The future looks bright, we’ll be back,” Garza said. “We’re always competing year in and year out. A lot of people had counted us out this year because we were almost a brand new team. A lot of people didn’t think we would get up to this point. … Tonight it didn’t bounce our way.”