Lady Bulldogs stop Lady Pats

MISSION — McAllen High looked less than inspired early, played without one of its three All-Valley first-team returners and received just one late basket from another — and still won by 19.

That’s because All-Valley first-team forward Andi Garza did show up, and in a big way. Garza scored 27 points with nine rebounds and three steals, helping the Lady Bulldogs hold off Mission Veterans Memorial 58-39 in a non-district contest Wednesday on the road.

“We came out kind of slow in the beginning,” said Garza, who hit 12-of-20 shots from the floor after leading McHi to the Josten’s Holiday Classic title Saturday. “But during halftime coach was telling us to start stepping it up and to play our game.”

The No. 1 Lady Bulldogs (23-4, 4-0) didn’t do that in the first quarter, in which they

struggled just to hit a layup, and the aggressive Lady Patriots took advantage to grab an 8-6 lead with 5:19 showing on a Sarah Benavides 3-pointer. After Rebecca Valdez tied the score with two free throws, the Lady Pats hit back-to-back shots for their biggest lead, 12-8, with 4:28 left. They led 13-10 after one.

“We finished shots,” Mission Veterans coach Rafael Cantu said. “We made shots. We made the easy shots. We missed too many of those in the second half. I think we scored three points in the (third quarter) and that’s hard to win when you do that.”

McHi regained the lead at 17-14 on Ali Bills’ trey from the right wing midway through the second quarter — and never trailed again. The Lady Bulldogs pushed their advantage to seven, 26-19, with 57 seconds left before halftime, but Benavides (11 points, three steals) hit a 3 and a transition jumper in the final 34 seconds to cut McHi’s lead to 26-24 at the break.

“Like I’ve always said, they’re 15-, 16- and 17-year-old children, and after 26 games we’re going to be out of sync every now and then,” McHi coach Teresa Casso said. “But I compliment them greatly for doing a better job in the second half.”

No one did a better job in the final 16 minutes than Garza, who sparked a 9-0 McHi run to start the third with two short jumpers and a turnaround from the right baseline. The Lady Patriots (11-10, 4-0) finally scored with 2:32 in the period after Brandi Taylor’s block of Dalia Contreras led to a free throw on the other end, but they were outscored 12-3 in the frame.

McHi used another 9-0 run at the start of the fourth to ice the game, eventually leading by as much as 25. Benavides and Taylor, the Lady Pats’ top two scorers, combined to hit just 1-of-11 field goals in the second half.

“We played hard, especially the first half,” Cantu said. “I didn’t think we came out with the same intensity in the second half, but the girls played hard and they did their best, we just missed too many easy shots and had too many turnovers.”

The Lady Bulldogs played without All-Valley forward Lyndsie Currie and Destiny Cox, both late scratches for unspecified violations of team rules, and All-Valley guard Damaris Rodriguez, an offseason transfer from Hidalgo, scored just three points in the fourth quarter on 1-of-8 shooting from the field.

But Rodriguez still showed her value by tallying four rebounds, four assists and six steals, Ali Bills scored 13 points in a strong effort and Rebecca Valdez added 12 points, eight rebounds and three steals, showing why so many Rio Grande Valley observers are predicting McHi will make its first trip to the regional semifinals this season.

That, however, is something Casso doesn’t want to hear right now.

“I think if the girls listen to the right people, the expectations are play hard every game,” she said. “I think everybody keeps talking about the playoffs and we keep reminding them that it’s this one, not the playoffs, that the playoffs may be ahead if we work hard every day and execute everyday.

“I know it is difficult. I’ve been in this 30 years, I know it’s difficult not to look ahead, but if we’re going to be a true quality team then we’re going to have to mature, do away with the future and play day by day.”

Jason McDaniel covers high school basketball for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4442.