(San Benito News/Hector Avila)
By PETE BANDA
Special to the NEWS
BROWNSVILLE, TX —After a long break, the Lady ’Hound varsity basketball team hit the court in Brownsville last week for the 32-6A district opener. San Benito made a huge statement, blowing out the Hanna Golden Eagles in what was expected to be a tough test for the young ’Hounds.
While the game started off relatively close, the Lady ’Hounds dominated in the second and third quarters to come away with an impressive 48-18 victory to claim their first district win of the season.
Hanna entered the game with a respectable 12-13 record, including an 8-3 mark on its home court. In addition to averaging nearly 40 points a game, the Golden Eagles had already surpassed their win total from last year by mid-December and appeared prime for a return to the playoffs. While San Benito downed them in both their meetings last season, it was clear this was a different Hanna squad.
“(Hanna) struggled last year, but you could see clear improvement on tape, and we viewed them as a more athletic team this season,” said Lady ’Hound coach Abel Moreno. “We knew it was important to get district started off right, and we treated this as a big game.”
The Lady ’Hounds relied on their explosive offense early, rushing out to an 11-3 lead in the first few minutes of the opening quarter. While the offense fell stagnant until the second quarter, San Benito still held a 14-6 advantage after one quarter of play.
San Benito turned its defensive intensity on overdrive the next quarters and built up a near insurmountable lead before the final quarter even tipped off. Led by red hot scoring machine Angelina Reyes, the Lady ’Hounds outscored Hanna 24-7 in the second and third quarters, turning an eight-point lead into a 25-point blowout.
“I think we showed that we can lock in on defense and still be able to put up points when we’re on our game,” added Moreno. “If we want to win in this district, we’re going to have to be able to defend against some really good offensive teams and this game showed that we have that ability. I’m expecting big things from this unit.”
With the game all but decided in the fourth quarter, San Benito still managed to outscore the home team 10-5 in the final period.
Reyes was phenomenal in what was the third district opening game of her career. The junior, who joined the 1,000-point club earlier this season, put up a stat line of 14 points, four rebounds, four assists, four steals, and a block with only one turnover. The senior trio of Daisy Esquivel, Yazmin Bernabe, and Lorena Segura combined for 26 points, 15 rebounds, 12 assists, and a whopping 15 steals.
San Benito is hosting its district home opener on Friday, January 12 in a rivalry game against the Harlingen Lady Cardinals. One year after posting a perfect 10-0 district record en route to a district championship, Harlingen is experiencing trouble replacing a senior-heavy roster. With all six of their top scorers lost to graduation, the Lady ’Cards have limped to a 7-13 start to their season and had their 19-game district winning streak snapped last week against Weslaco.
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