Bobcats surging to begin new year

By ARMANDO GARZA
Special to the NEWS

Courtesy photo The Rio Hondo Bobcats varsity basketball team recently competed at a tournament in Falfurrias and came away with the third place crown.

Courtesy photo
The Rio Hondo Bobcats varsity basketball team recently competed at a tournament in Falfurrias and came away with the third place crown.

FALFURRIAS – The Rio Hondo Bobcats basketball team put a nice cap on 2013 with some good basketball over the weekend.

The Cats went up to Falfurrias for their annual participation in the Jerseys’ hoops tournament and went 3-1 in the event while adding a non-district win over San Perlita on Monday night to improve to 16-6 on the season.

“We went up there and played well, and hat’s off to my boys. We didn’t quit,” Rio Hondo coach Joe Guzman said of the tourney. “We played some good close games.”

Things started with a bang as Rio Hondo nipped 1A powerhouse San Isidro 55-54 in the opening round.

Another close game followed as the Cats outlasted the Robstown Cotton Pickers 58-52 to move to 2-0 in tourney play.

“They’re both good teams. We played them to the end and hung in there. They were both close,” Guzman said of San Isidro and Robstown.

The next round was a challenging one as the lone loss for the Cats came at the hands of fellow 3A Kingsville in a 34-20 defensive battle.

“We played well against Kingsville and it was close until the end. They couldn’t score, we couldn’t score,” Guzman said. “The deciding factor was rebounding. They outmuscled us and they had a height advantage on us. After the game I congratulated their kids as well.”

However, Rio Hondo took care of Banquete in the third place game, 53-41, to bring home another trophy.

“Even against Banquete it was close before we were able to pull away,” Guzman said.

For their tremendous efforts, Daniel Hernandez, Josh Cuellar, Nate Adames and Meme Lopez each were named to the Falfurrias All-Tournament team.

The Cats continued their solid play on Monday night when they put the clamps on perennial 1A playoff team San Perlita, 63-53.

Once again Rio Hondo was able to break open a close game and put the Trojans away in the fourth quarter.

“It was close and were able to pull away,” Guzman said. “I’m proud of the boys. We’re playing good ball right now. We’ve got Raymondville on Friday and then we start district.”

Rio Hondo played at home on Friday in a matinee with the Bearkats, winning 49-36.

Permanent link to this article: https://www.sbnewspaper.com/2014/01/01/bobcats-surging-to-begin-new-year/

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.