By CONSTANCIO MARTINEZ, JR.
Special to the PRESS
The Lady Tarpons hosted the Hidalgo Lady Pirates on Tuesday, Jan. 14 in a district showdown. This was the first meeting this season between the teams, and although it started off slow, it had an intense finish that got the crowd going.
As the game got underway, both teams’ defenses took center stage as they struggled with their shots. Port Isabel’s [PI] first basket, a three-pointer by Nadia Flaig, came mid-quarter as PI took an early 4-3 lead. The Lady Tarpons eventually broke through the Lady Pirates’ defense. With time winding down in the quarter, PI’s Emily Burrage’s runner at the buzzer gave the Lady Tarpons an 11-3 lead.
Early in the second quarter, PI’s Precious Vasquez found Flaig opened for another three-pointer as PI extended their lead to 17-7. Hidalgo started to find their shots as they came storming back, going on a 9-4 run in the last three minutes of the quarter. Hidalgo chipped away at PI’s lead as the Lady Tarpons now led 27-24 at halftime.
Hidalgo carried their momentum into the third quarter as they took a 31-29 lead with 5:51 showing on the clock. The teams traded baskets as they went back-and-forth until the Lady Tarpons started to pull away and went on a 6-0 run to close out the quarter. Lady Tarpons now led 40-33 heading into the fourth quarter.
As the fourth quarter got underway, the teams continued their competitive game which saw more physicality in the period. The Lady Tarpons led 46-41 midway into the quarter, but they were committing more turnovers than the coach wanted. At the two-minute mark, Hidalgo managed to tie the game up at 46-46. Neither team could seal the deal and the game went into overtime.
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