Youthful ’Hounds gain experience in loss to No. 1 Rowe

By ARMANDO GARZA
Special to the NEWS

Although the score may not indicate it, the San Benito Greyhounds benefited greatly from Tuesday night’s 68-45 loss to the no. 1 team in the Valley, McAllen Rowe.

The young ’Hounds logged important experience minutes on the court while holding their own for a stretch against a solid team.

But for now, youth and experience won out as San Benito saw Rowe run to a 23-3 edge in the third quarter as the ’Hounds slipped to 7-9 on the season (1-2 in District 31-5A).

“Our youth has definitely been an issue for us this season,” ’Hounds coach Eddie Abrego said. “Coach (Jose) Yebra’s team is excellent and fundamentally sound. But that third quarter really did us in. We couldn’t get anything going. That’s been our trouble; the third quarters of games.”

The Warriors (17-1, 3-0) led by double digits most of the way, but a 21-0 spurt over the last four minutes of the first half and first three minutes of the second half sent the Valley’s top team on its way to another district win.

“In the first half we tried to press but their guards were quick,” Rowe coach Jose Yebra said of the Greyhounds. “In the second half we played more half-court defense and kept them in front of us so that worked out better. That’s how we’ve been winning games. When we play good defense, we have a chance, and we did that for the most part tonight.”

Rowe star forward Chris Gatling opened the game red hot, swishing the nets for 12 of his game-high 16 points in the first quarter. However, he sustained an injury to his left wrist and missed most of the game although he returned late.

“He hurt his wrist and he just didn’t feel right,” Yebra said of Gatling. “We’ll get him checked out. But we’re fortunate that we’ve got guys that can come in off the bench and they stepped up.”

Step up they did as Maury Campos hit two from downtown in the opening stanza, including his second trey which game Rowe a 22-7 edge with 2:07 left in the first. Rowe finished the quarter with a 24-13 lead.

San Benito hung around and was able to use its speed to streak past the Warrior press in the first half. When Jaime Sanchez’s putback went in with under five minutes left in the second period, the Greyhound deficit was just five at 26-21.

However, the ever-resilient Warriors went on an 11-0 run to end the half. Rudy Campos scored three buckets, the second which pushed the lead back to double-digits at 31-21, with 1:10 left before half.

Rowe led 47-21 to open the third before the ’Hounds’ Joey Salcedo hit a three to stop the bleeding, though it was San Benito’s only field goal of the third quarter.

“It comes with youth, but we’re getting there,” Abrego said of the struggles. “Our biggest issue is we’re not finishing right now. We missed five layups in that third quarter, so that’s 10 points right there. We’ve gotta get better at setting up plays and running our offense.”

The Greyhounds turned it up offensively in the final quarter, outscoring Rowe 21-8 behind eight points from Salcedo and five from Ismael Gaitan. Along with Gatling, Campos also led the Warriors with 16 points while Jojo Martinez chipped in 11. For San Benito, Salcedo led the way with 18 points as the only Greyhound in double figures. The Greyhounds face PSJA North Friday in a critical matchup.

“It’s a big game for us because everyone’s trying to claw into the top four,” Abrego said. “They’re all big games, but we’ve got to get a win on Friday.”