Hot-shooting Falcons topple Cowboys

LOS FRESNOS — After a tepid first quarter and a sluggish second, the Los Fresnos Falcons knew they needed to do something at the half.

“We talked about it,” Falcons coach Shawn Jones said. “We needed to have a push.”

Ask and you shall receive, coach Jones.

The Falcons scored 12 straight points, then held on for their lives during the fourth, and came out with a 68-58 victory over the District 32-5A front-running Brownsville Porter Cowboys on Tuesday.

Los Fresnos (15-16, 8-4 district) is now essentially two games up on fifth-place Brownsville Rivera with two games to go. So, it only needs one more win or one more Rivera loss to clinch a playoff spot.

Porter (18-11, 9-3) remains one game away from clinching a playoff spot, as well. And it also needs either one more win or one more Rivera loss.

But in this one, it needed a lot more to beat an efficient, hot-shooting Los Fresnos team. Especially during that third quarter.

“Just energy,” Jones said of the spurt. “We came out and defended well. Boxed out well. We rebounded a lot better than we did at their place.”

The game was tied at 24 at the half, but the Falcons used that 12-0 run to take a 36-26 lead midway through the third. An Akeem Simien-fueled 6-2 run closed the quarter with Los Fresnos up 45-31.

At that point, it looked like the Falcons' night. Of course it was, but it wasn't going to be that easy.

Porter hit four 3-pointers, including two from Hugo Salazar (part of his ridiculous fourth and team-high 25 points), to get the lead down to four midway through the final frame.

But Eli Villarreal answered with two layups to push it to eight, and the Falcons' free-throw shooting took care of the rest. After that, the Cowboys never got within six.

“We called on our Big 3,” Jones said, referencing Erasto Renteria, Villarreal and Simien. “Eli stepped up there.”

For Porter, which has a habit of pulling wins out of nowhere, it goes as a learning experience. For the coaches, and the players.

“Lesson learned,” Porter coach Luis Garza said. “Immaturity is a big part of our mistakes, and that goes (for) our coaching staff, as well.”

The Cowboys couldn't buy a basket for much of the first three quarters and were continuing to mostly settle for outside shots. It wasn't until the fourth when they not only started to hit but when they started to drive to the hoop, force turnovers and fight for rebounds.

Of course, it came much too late.

“That's the urgency they need to show every game,” Garza said. “These guys, like I said, they need to grow up. They need to learn how to play.”

Perhaps Garza would be singing a different tune if Simien and his game-high 26 points weren't there for the Falcons.

“He had a couple quiet games (before Tuesday),” Jones said. “He did a great job answering our challenge.”

Now the Falcons look to clinch a playoff spot Friday at Weslaco High. The Panthers, Cowboys and Brownsville Hanna are all tied atop the district at 9-3.

And sure enough, these Cowboys will be in Hanna on Friday for what will be the biggest basketball game of the year in Brownsville.

LOS FRESNOS 38, BROWNSVILLE PORTER 11: The Lady Falcons completed a perfect District 32-5A season with a convincing win over the Cowgirls.

Los Fresnos finishes the season 30-4, 14-0 in district. It will be the top seed out of 32-5A and will play the fourth place team from District 31-5A in bi-district next week.

Porter finishes 10-22 and 4-10, a vast improvement over last season.

Todd Orodenker covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him at (956) 982-6663 or via e-mail at torodenker@brownsvilleherald.com. Follow him on Twitter @ToddO243.