Lady Warriors' defense keys victory over Sharyland

MISSION — McAllen Rowe’s Lady Warriors didn’t give their coach Raul Vega the offensive output he had hoped for in their key District 30-5A game at Sharyland.

But, he didn’t have any complaints on defense, especially in the low post where Daniella Perez and Yarelli Rios did a solid job defending Sharyland’s two 6-footers in recording a 35-29 victory on Tuesday night.

“We wanted to limit their second shots because with their size, we knew they were going to get some shots,” Vega said. “We wanted to limit their possessions, and hopefully, we’d take advantage of ours. We struggled on offense, but I think we made up for it on the defensive end of the court.”

Perez and Rios limited Lady Rattlers posts, Laura Eberly and Monica Salinas, to a combined 11 points. Nine of those points came in the second half. Eberly had nine points, and Salinas had two points and 12 rebounds.

“You have to keep guarding and guarding them,” Perez said of Eberly and Salinas. “You can’t let them go for a second. We had to chase them, follow them and not let them touch the ball. We knew not to let go of their posts because they are really big.”

The Lady Warriors (20-8 overall), ranked No. 6 by Valley Freedom Newspapers, maintained their one-game lead in the district standings by improving to 9-1. McAllen High, a 54-23 victor over McAllen Memorial on Tuesday, is 8-2. Sharyland dropped to 7-3.

The loss wasn’t tragic for the Lady Rattlers. They are still in good shape to make the playoffs. But, Tuesday’s result likely put them out of contention for a district championship.

“We can’t let one game define our season,” said Sharyland coach Dale Whitaker, whose team dropped to 17-11. “We have a good team. If we play hard these next four games, we have a chance. You never know what’s going to happen. (Rowe) has only one loss. It would take a miracle to knock them off the top spot.”

Ciaira Briseno led the Lady Warriors with 12 points. Christina Navarro had 10 points and Perez finished with eight points and 10 rebounds.

Sharyland point guard Savannah Prichard led all scorers with 15 points. Prichard provided virtually the entire offense for the Lady Rattlers in the first half. She scored the team’s first nine points, and it wasn’t until there were 23 seconds remaining in the second quarter until one of her teammates scored.

The Lady Warriors took a 21-11 halftime lead on the strength of their defense and some strong guard play from Briseno and Navarro. Navarro made three 3-pointers in the first half.

Sharyland made a mild run at Rowe in the fourth quarter after each team scored eight points in the third. The Lady Rattlers crept to within 30-25 with 2:59 remaining. They didn’t get any closer. The incentive of maintaining their district lead was enough for Rowe to finish strong.

“We wanted to stay in first place,” Perez said. “I’m really proud of our team. We played hard the whole 32 minutes.”

David Hinojosa covers girls high school basketball for Valley Freedom Newspapers. You can reach him at (956) 683-4442 or via email at dhinojosa@themonitor.com