By ANDREA MOSQUEDA
Special to the NEWS
The San Benito Greyhound varsity basketball team battled the McAllen Memorial Mustangs at home this Tuesday, falling by a score of 42-31.
After exchanging opening baskets, a steal and breakaway layup from San Benito’s Cruz Guzman gave the Greyhounds the edge they needed to score two three-pointers, the first by Guzman at 3:34 and the second by Mathew Perez with 24 seconds left in the first quarter. These last points gave the Greyhounds a substantial lead as the buzzer sounded for a score of 12-6 at the end of the first quarter.
A slow second quarter, however, stopped the Greyhound offensive momentum. With no points scored by the Greyhounds in the quarter, a three-pointer earned the Mustangs the lead for the first time with 4:56 left on the clock. A two-point soft bank off the glass brought the Mustang lead to eight points and the score to 20-12 at the half.
Things didn’t get much better in the third quarter. At the 7:25 mark, the Mustangs brought the lead to double digits with the first shot of the quarter. The Greyhounds, however, managed to reduce the lead using a tenacious man-to-man defensive scheme. The intensity led to tempers flaring and a two-shot technical foul was called on Perez. After the successful technical foul free-throws by the Mustangs, the ’Hounds again shortened the lead on an impressive three-pointer from Perez.
At this point, Memorial’s lead was cut to five, but the Mustangs soon made up for it with short jumper from the top of the key. A spectacular left-handed running layup at the 1:25 mark from Jason Lopez and a failed Mustang shot kept the score at 28-24 as the third quarter ended.
The sound of fast-paced footfalls filled the varsity gym during the fourth quarter as the Greyhounds kicked the game up to high gear. If you had blinked, you would’ve missed most of the high-stakes action as the Greyhounds fought hard for every last point. Scoring the first two points of the fourth quarter, Perez led with an effective offense as the Greyhounds stiffened up on defense the rest of the game. Manny Sanchez of San Benito then prevented the Mustangs from scoring on a breakaway steal. Sanchez’s stuff caused a frenzy in the gym as ’Hound fans applauded the defensive efforts of the team.
The all-in defense was successful but fruitless as the Greyhounds were unable to regain the lead and the final score was 42-31 as the last buzzer sounded.
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