McHi survives late surge by Rowe

McALLEN — McAllen High had to fend off a late surge by McAllen Rowe, but when the wild fourth quarter was over the Bulldogs ended a 26-year drought.

With the 56-50 victory over the Warriors on Friday at Rowe, the Bulldogs clinch at least a share of the District 30-5A title for the first time since 1982. With a win over Donna on Tuesday, the district crown will belong all to McHi (24-9, 9-2).

“It feels great,” Bulldogs sophomore post J.J. Avila said. “It hasn’t happened in 26 years, so it really feels great to be a part of it.”

Rowe, which already has clinched a playoff spot, was looking to improve on its fourth-place seed but instead falls to 18-14 and 6-5 in district.

Avila led the Bulldogs with 21 points, 10 rebounds and two blocks, and guards Cory Pace and Nick Garza scored 11 and 10 points, respectively, to help McHi.

“I really don’t care about my numbers,” Avila said. “I just come out for the win. That’s the thing that matters.”

The combined 42 points of Avila, Garza and Pace and a 21-point lead early in the fourth quarter were almost not enough. Through the first three quarters of play, the Bulldogs controlled the game by pushing the ball upcourt but shied away from their style late.

McHi scored its first three baskets of the second half in transition, giving the Bulldogs a 34-20 lead with 6:03 left in the third period.

“We were doing some good things early on,” Bulldogs coach Roy Swift said. “We were able to push the ball upcourt like we wanted to. I kind of figured Rowe was going to start knocking down some shots. This happened the last time we played them.”

The Bulldogs outscored the Warriors 17-9 in the third frame, taking a 45-26 lead into the final quarter.

Eventually Rowe began to chip away at McHi’s lead, led by Raul Villarreal’s 11 fourth-quarter points. Villarreal was 0-for-8 shooting going in the final eight minutes, and McHi connected on only two shots from the field and was outscored 24-11 in the final frame.

Villarreal’s 3 with 1:32 remaining cut the Bulldogs’ lead to 54-47. After each team hit one free throw apiece, Rowe junior guard Aaron Villarreal worked his way inside the paint for a layup to cut McHi’s lead to 55-50 with 20.9 seconds left.

Avila hit one free throw to provide the final score. Rowe made one last effort from long range, but after two missed 3s time ran out.

“It was too little, too late,” Warriors coach Jose Yebra said. “I think our kids were intimidated by (McHi’s) size a little bit. They were able to take advantage on the fast break because our kids did not get back on defense.”

Peter Rasmussen covers sports for the Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4448.