Memorial, Cortez's socks too much for rival Rowe in 30-5A

McALLEN — Sam Cortez proudly showed off his Mickey Mouse socks.

“I wore my Garfield socks the last time and we lost,” the McAllen Memorial coach said as he lifted his pant leg to show his sock. “I wore my Mickey Mouse socks this time and had some luck.”

The last time Memorial played McAllen Rowe, the Mustangs lost by two. On Friday, the Mustangs beat the sixth-ranked Warriors 59-48 in a tense game at McAllen Memorial that was a lot closer than the score suggests.

“He told us about the Garfield socks but we didn’t know about the Mickey Mouse socks,” Mustangs point guard Sameer Wadhwani said, adding that the team will make sure the coaches wear the now-lucky Mickey socks.

The Mustangs (19-10 season, 9-2 District 30-5A) needed all the luck they can get. The led changed 15 times during the game and the score was tied six times.

Memorial didn’t take control until late in the game.

A Jake Garza layup with 4:29 left in the game tied the score at 44 and sparked a 15-4 run the rest of the way. All six of the Mustangs’ field goals during the final frame were layups.

Cortez said that was by design.

“We were not going to shoot any outside shots,” Cortez said. “The only thing we were going to shoot was layups. At least, they followed directions.”

The Warriors were forced to foul and Memorial converted seven of eight free throws during the finals minutes to help preserve the win.

“Right when we started to take the lead that is when I told my guys we were not going to take the outside shot,” Cortez said. “We were going to win it at the free throw line. Early, we missed so many free throws. I kind of did a psyche job on my team. Now, we got to make the free throws.”

By the time Wadhwani attempted a full court pass that hit the gym’s rafters with 17.5 seconds left in the game, the Mustangs could laugh it off.

There was no laughing for the Warriors (23-8, 8-3). After the game, Warriors coach Jose Yebra declined to comment except to say, “Talk to (the Mustangs). They deserve it.”

Niko Maxwell and Joel Renteria led the Mustangs with 14 points a piece. Warriors guard Raul Villarreal led the game with 23.

The win keeps the Mustangs’ outside chance to catch first-place McAllen High in the standings alive. The teams play Tuesday.

“When we played McHi, we didn’t make any of our shots,” Wadhwani said. “If we can make our shots, we should be good.”

Peter Rasmussen covers high school sports for Valley Freedom Newspapers. You can reach him at (956) 683-4448 or via e-mail at prasmussen@themonitor.com.