Southside drubs Cotulla at St. Anthony Tourney opener

TEAMS INCLUDED: Central Catholic, Highlands, Southside.

Tuesday morning, Central Catholic (2-4) did what opposing teams need to do against Highlands (3-4). The Buttons weathered the storm in the first pool play game for both teams at the Northeast ISD Invitational.

Central Catholic bolted to a 41-23 halftime lead. The Buttons won 66-48.

“Highlands put a lot of pressure on you,” Central Catholic coach Bruce McConaghy said, “and we handled that pressure well. (Our guards), they did a great job of handling the pressure. Matt Wetesnik also played well against the press.”

Junior center Tony Lewis led Central Catholic with 17 points. Senior guard P.J. Escobar scored 12. Chad Plummer added 10 an Wetesnik had nine.

The Buttons limited Highlands’ top scorer, sophomore wing Demarcus Hartfield, to 11 points. Jermichael Shirley added 10 for the Owls. Jamaria Moody chipped in with nine points and Joseph Jackson added eight.

Highlands did not play again Thursday. Its next game is 10:30 a.m. Friday against Fort Bend Clements.

Clements defeated Central Catholic 64-50 Thursday afternoon. The Buttons’ next opponent is to be determined.

Against Clements, Central Catholic established a 13-9 lead in the opening quarter. The Rangers produced 23 points in the second period. They took a 22-21 lead on a pair of free throws from Matt Rando with 3:56 until halftime.

Lewis (9 points) answered with a nifty move inside, but Clements scored the next seven points and never relinquished the lead.

Escobar (12 points) drove for a layup and Lewis added a half-hook off a steal by Joseph Nava, who recently re-joined the team after playing quarterback for the Buttons during the fall. Central Catholic was within 30-26 with 1:23 remaining in the second quarter.

Although the Rangers notched another basket before halftime, the Buttons wouldn’t score again for six minutes and 16 seconds. When the figurative lid was lifted from their basket, as Nava drove for a layup, Clements held a 38-28 lead.

“I think they scored six in that time,” McConaghy said. “During that time, we still played good defense. After we came out for the second half, we had that drought. We just couldn’t score.”
Stuart Lynch made three of four free throws to keep Central Catholic within striking range at 40-31 as the third quarter ended. The Buttons scored just five points in the quarter.

Central Catholic was within 43-36 on a driving layup by Escobar with 6:04 left. That prompted Clements to call timeout, and emerge with a full-court pressure defense. Although the final score was the Rangers’ biggest lead, the Buttons were never closer than seven points in the fourth quarter – despite seven of eight foul shooting and three-pointers from senior guard Chris Paz and Plummer.

St. Anthony Tournament

Southside/Fox Tech

The Cardinals (3-3) outscored Cotulla () 23-11 in the second quarter Thursday at the St. Anthony Tournament. The outburst built a 47-27 halftime lead.

Southside maintained control by outscoring the Cowboys 13-7 in the fourth quarter.

Eluid Mendez led Southside with 21 points. Alex Rangel scored 15. Rogelio Diaz contributed 12 points.

In Southside’s second game Thursday, the Cardinals vanquished Fox Tech (0-5) 81-43. Southside built a 48-19 halftime.

Fox Tech was led by Ruben Hernandez with 11 points, including three 3-point baskets. Daniel Castillo and Santos Vargas (4 blocked shots) each scored 10. Alex Lopez added eight points and three blocked shots for the Buffaloes. Nick Buys recorded a team-high four assists.

Southside statistics for the Fox Tech game were unavailable.

MORE TO COME