The two defending district champs clashed Tuesday night in early season action as the Diamondbacks grinded out a 56-51 win over the Jaguars in Edinburg.
Despite being down six key players due to Pioneer’s ongoing football season and another due to injury, the Diamondbacks found a way to get the job done led by the experienced play of Miguelangel Gonzalez, Marco Treviño and Darik Briseño.
“I told my boys ‘hold down the fort, grind out the win,” Pioneer head coach Rene Gonzalez said. “I told Marco, Miguelangel and I told Darik, ‘with your varsity experience alone, you should take over this game, you know what to do.’”
Gonzalez, Treviño and Briseño heard their coach’s words and came up big when it mattered most as Pioneer outscored Economedes 18-12 during the final quarter. Each finished with double figures and the three combined to nail seven clutch free throws late to put the game on ice.
“We just had to grind it out and hit those free throws. We just had to be leaders in the final minutes,” Gonzalez said after scoring 17 points.
Treviño, who also dropped 17 on the Jaguars, said the younger players upped their game in the victory.
“I feel like everyone played their heart out today and we got a good win,” he said.
While those three led the Diamondbacks with their experience, a newcomer emerged as Economedes’ leading-scorer.
After being held to just one point during the opening quarter, Jaguars’ sophomore Ray De Leon finished with a game-high 21 points as he sliced through small openings for tough buckets inside the paint. Fellow sophomore Michael Barrientos was right behind him with 15 points of his own, but the Diamondbacks were able to hold off the comeback attempt by Economedes.
Sharyland Pioneer is now 1-0 on the year as they await the return of six players trying to put together a playoff run on the football field. But they won’t use that as an excuse; rather they see it as an opportunity for the younger players to get some run.
“We have six players playing football. We want them to go deep in the playoffs and we’re going to grind and hold down the fort for them,” the Pioneer head coach said.
Next up for the Diamondbacks is a non-district game against PSJA High at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Sharyland Pioneer High School.
“We’re going to always fight no matter what and it’s going to be good to watch,” Miguelangel Gonza... Click here to read full article
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