Memorial picks up clutch win at Rowe
McALLEN — The McAllen Memorial Mustangs held off a fourth quarter rally by McAllen Rowe for a much-needed 57-51 victory in a District 30-5A game Friday night at the Warriors’ gym.
In a stellar performance at the free-throw line, the Mustangs (19-11, 8-4) made the shots necessary to keep the lead they had the majority of the game. Juan Gonzalez was a clutch 9 of 11 from the charity stripe in the fourth quarter (15 of 17 for the game) and finished with 27 points.
“I told them if we’re going to spread the ball we have to make our free throws,” Memorial coach Sam Cortez said. “We got the bonus early and I told them all we need is one from the two attempts.”
Rowe’s comeback began when Memorial’s Gabe Myers fouled Azarias Avalos for a three-point play that pulled the Warriors to within five points. But fourth-ranked Rowe (22-7, 9-3) returned the favor and sent Gonzalez to the line. Again and again the Mustangs made free throw after free throw, pulling away from Rowe in a close game.
“It happened again,” Cortez said. “We thought we should have beat Sharyland (Friday) and we stayed hot and unfortunately I got Nikki Rowe next and being a inner-city rivalry my guys were just pumped.”
In the first quarter, Rowe scored the first two field goals but then Memorial went on an eight-point run and never looked back. The Mustangs led by seven going into the second quarter.
When the buzzer sounded at the end of the half Memorial still had a seven-point lead. But the game was still close as Memorial couldn’t pull away.
The third quarter, however, was a different story. Memorial led by as many as 11 at one point. Rowe picked up a technical that sent Gonzalez to the charity stripe and the Mustangs slowly put points on the board to give them a 10-point lead with a quarter to play.
Rowe coach Jose Yebra couldn’t help but be frustrated at his team’s missed shots. They had a fast break but were unable to convert.
“We missed so many layups and so many shots,” he said. “Our practice wasn’t good enough, they played a good game and our kids kept trying but our shots were just not falling.”
