Rattlers win tense district game

MISSION — The Sharyland’s Rattlers’ 62-50 District 30-5A win over the La Joya Palmview Lobos on Tuesday at Sharyland was more intense and emotional than the score indicates.

Tempers flared between the coaches late in the game. During a dead ball, Lobos coach Andy Saenz and Rattlers coach David Keith engaged in a heated exchange in front of the scorer’s table.

After the game, Saenz said the incident started after the Sharyland coaches accused one of his players of trying to punch a Rattlers player.

“Obviously, it was a loose ball,” Saenz said about the accusation. “Obviously, it’s getting rough in there. Their assistant coach had a few choice words for me. I asked them to please be quiet. Their head coach proceeded to tell me to ‘shut the (expletive) up.’ I’m not going to take anyone cursing at me.’”

Keith declined to comment about the incident, adding that it was “unfortunate” and wanted to “focus on the positive.”

By the time of the coaches’ exchange, the Rattlers (20-10 overall, 9-1 district) held a comfortable 56-45 lead with 3:20 left in the game. The Lobos, though, had cut a Rattlers 15-point to lead to 37-34 with 46.5 seconds remaining in the third quarter after a steal and layup by Mario De La Garza.

The Lobos held the Rattlers to only two baskets in the third quarter.

“I have to give complete credit to Palmview and what they were able to do in the third quarter and their adjustments,” Keith said. “I thought they did a great a job.”

Free throws, however, kept the Rattlers afloat in the second half, converting on 16 of 22 from the charity stripe. Eleven of the Rattlers’ free throws came from freshman guard Jesse Pistokache, who scored 17 points.

“Jesse did a great job of getting to the line,” Keith said. “He is very good with the ball. His ability to penetrate and draw contact to get to the free throw line was key for us.”

Another key for the Rattlers was sophomore Eduardo Garcia’s ability to come up with big baskets at critical moments. His layup at the buzzer to end the third quarter gave the Rattlers a 40-34 lead and quieted a furious Palmview rally.

“I put in a lot of hard work to be the best for my team,” said Garcia, who scored 16. “We are family. If we play as a team, nobody can stop us.”

The upstart Lobos (21-6, 7-3) had hoped to force a tie for first in the league standings with Sharyland.

“They have some great talent on their team,” Saenz said. “Jesse and Quino (Pistokache) are two college players. Any coach would be very fortunate to have players like that on their team. They are a very good team overall.”

Quino scored 17 for the Rattlers. De La Garza scored 15 for the Lobos while Hector Gallegos and Dominick Garza scored 10 each.

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

Follow Peter Rasmussen on Twitter @parasmuss