The Raiders and Vikings put their undefeated district records on the line on New Year’s Eve as Rivera pieced together a strong second half to take down crosstown rival Pace 47-41 on Tuesday at Brownsville Rivera High School.
The Vikings (12-9-1, 5-1 district) beat up the Raiders (13-10, 6-0 district) inside early to build a nine-point halftime lead before Rivera matched the physicality and intensity to mount a second-half comeback.
Rivera outscored Pace 14-4 during the third quarter and 13-8 during the fourth to maintain their unbeaten record in District 32-5A competition.
“The boys played great. All the credit goes out to the kids, they were ready,” Rivera head coach Jesus Alvarez said. “We were down nine at halftime and we just gutted it out, played a little more physical — it’s a physical game against a crosstown rival. Pace is a great team coached by a legendary coach in (Jose Luis) Ramirez. We’re just glad we came out with the victory and came out on top.”
Pace started with the hot hand thanks to the trio of David Melendez, Eddie Gonzalez and James Quinonez. The three used their size advantage to dominate in the paint and on the glass as they combined for 26 of the Vikings’ 29 first-half points.
During the second half, however, Rivera’s defense clamped down and contested everything around the rim without fouling. The Raiders limited the Vikings’ second-chance opportunities and chopped away at the lead one stop and one bucket at a time.
“We always tell the boys defense is going to win us games,” Alvarez said. “We’re going to play big on the defensive side of the ball, we’re going to pack the middle and make them beat us from the outside. We did that, we were able to control them a little bit and stuff went our way — a couple of possessions, loose balls. We got after them and my hat goes off to the kids, great defense tonight.”
Six different Raiders scored during the third quarter to pull ahead 34-33 entering the fourth, and Rivera’s Job Martinez helped close the show.
He scored seven of his game-high 16 points during the final eight minutes, including a 3-pointer that broke a 41-41 tie with 1:11 remaining that gave Rivera the lead for good.
“They were taking it to us in the first half and we needed to step up and that’s what everyone did,” Martinez said. “The bench was hyping us up and everything. It was everybody together as a team.”
Rivera freshman Reggie Clark finished with nine points. Cristian Vergara and Juan Juarez scored six, and Isaiah Cuellar and Angel Montoya both had five.
Pace’s Quinonez scored a team-high 15 points while Melendez was right behind him with 14. Gonzalez finished with nine.
Brownsville Pace will look to bounce back against Mercedes at 1 p.m. Friday at Mercedes High School, while Brownsville Rivera heads into a matchup against another unbeaten District 32-5A team in Weslaco East.
The Raiders and Wildcats are set for a 1 p.m. tip-off Friday at Weslaco East High School.
“We have to play tough and physical. We got to grind it out,” Alvarez said. “We’re a good ball club, we can score the ball, but we have to get phy... Click here to read full article
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