Sharyland wins 10th straight

McALLEN — In a tense District 30-5A game that came down to the final possession, Quino Pistokache scored Sharyland’s last 10 points to give the Rattlers a stirring 54-52 road victory at McAllen Memorial and extend their winning streak to 10 games.

Down 47-44, Pistokache started his point-scoring run with a free throw. He then hit two 3-pointers, a field goal and another free throw to give the Rattlers a 54-52 lead. Not thinking of the missed free throw that could have ultimately cost Sharyland the victory, the Rattlers buckled down on defense. Memorial had one last look to win the game but came up short.

“From the beginning I was getting frustrated a bit, but I stuck with it,” Pistokache said. “I told myself it’s my senior year, it’s Memorial and I am going to close it out.”

The Rattlers opened the game attacking the rim and took a 10-4 lead. The Mustangs settled down and finished the quarter down just four points.

In the second quarter, the Mustangs trailed throughout until pulling into a 29-29 deadlock at halftime. For the most of the quarter Sharyland had control of the game. But Pistokache fouled Memorial’s Juan “Papito” Gonzalez from beyond the arc, giving him three free throws. Gonzalez made all three and the quarter ended.

The third quarter was slow to start for both teams. Almost three minutes went by until Gus Martinez gave the Mustangs their first lead. The Mustangs maintained their lead heading into the fourth quarter.

In the final period the Mustangs still led until Pistokache made a three-pointer to tie the game at 50. With about two minutes left he made another triple to regain the lead, and the Rattlers never looked back.

“We’ve been in a lot of close games this year,” Sharyland coach David Keith said. “I can’t doubt these guys and the last 10 games have been amazing.”

The 10-game winning streak gets contested Tuesday against Mission High. Keith and the Rattlers are preaching the one-game-at-a-time mantra and he knows that’s how the streak has lasted so long.

“For them to put together 10 in a row I’m very proud of them,” he said. “No joke, that’s how we look at it, who’s next and that’s it.”