East Central takes second place in SAISD Tourney

TEAMS INCLUDED: Burbank, East Central, Harlandale, McCollum, Sam Houston, South San, Southwest.

In tournaments, teams need to have short memories. They can’t afford losses linger in their minds, because another game typical is only a few short hours away.

South San (5-4) absorbed a 70-52 loss to TMI in a morning game last Friday at the Durbon Center. A win would have placed the Bobcats in the top four of the 76^th annual South San ISD Tournament. The loss put them in the Winner’s Consolation Bracket.

In the evening, the Bobcats battled through a tight game against Floresville (3-6) to win 59-58 at the overtime buzzer when substitute guard Johnnie Crisp nailed a three-point shot off an assist from David Valdez.

“Olando (Lopez) pushed the ball upcourt and I saw him pass the ball to David,” Crisp said. “I was just there (at the three-point line). I shot it, and it felt good.”

With that shot, Crisp went from the Bobcats’ unsung hero to the guy who sank the shot South San fans will long remember. He only had one point when he released the ball.

That type of heroics are becoming commonplace with this year’s South San team.  Three of the team’s five victories have been decided by five points or fewer.

“We have three seniors with three years of varsity experience each,” South San coach Ray Carroll said. “They have been in some very close games throughout the years. They know what they need to do when the game’s on the line.

“This year, we’ve been able to pull through at the end. A lot of that’s due to our level of experience.”

Burbank, Harlandale, South San and Southwest were the only area teams to win two games in the 34-team touranament.

Harlandale (5-4) also advanced to the winner’s consolation bracket, where it notched an important 42-41 win over Antonian (10-3) last Saturday in its final game. Burbank (5-5) took a different path, winning its first two games 65-63 over Southwest (3-7) and 73-67 over Jay (6-7) to reach the quarterfinals.

In addition to the Antonian win, Harlandale lost a tight 75-70 game Friday against Brennan, which finished fourth in the tournament. Indians junior Jesus Maltos scored 22 points and senior Armando Guerrero had 16. Jordan Murphy scored 26 points for the Bears.

“I liked the pace of play,” Harlandale coach Chris Adamek said. “Their Division I star (Murphy), I think is the best player in San Antonio. He made his plays, but I thought we played him really well. We didn’t give him an inch. We didn’t back down.”

Brandon Ramon led a balanced Indians lineup against Antonian with nine points.

The opening-game loss put Southwest in the consolation bracket, but the Dragons closed the tournament with an encouraging 58-39 victory against Corpus Christi Flour Bluff. Senior Devanta Hayes led Southwest with 15 points. Latrel Grant added eight.

“It was a good game (against Burbank), but we should have scored more,” Southwest coach David Brawner said. “We really got after it. It was one of our best defensive games of the year.

“We’ve got a lot of seniors, but most of them are inexperienced. We’re looking for our identity now. We looking for who will step up and be leaders.”

The Dragons’ District 28-5A rival South San lost to Warren (5-9) in the bracket championship game.

In the win over Floresville, the Tigers had taken a 58-56 lead with 11.5 seconds to play on a basket from Chris Albert (18 points). The teams were tied 51-51 after four quarters and 56-56 with 46.3 seconds left when Lopez (17 points) hit a driving bank shot for the Bobcats.

South San senior Jesse Samarripas played an outstanding game at both ends of the court and recorded 13 points. Eric Alcozer and Valdez chipped in with nine and eight points, respectively.

SAISD Tournament

East Central (8-5) lost a heart-breaker in the finals of the SAISD Tournament last Saturday, falling 68-64 to Wagner (10-1) at Lanier. The Hornets defeated Dallas Roosevelt 76-62 in the semifinals earlier in the day.

The Hornets and Sam Houston (4-4) both reached the semifinals in the three-day tournament. The Hurricanes  lost 81-63 to Wagner in the semis. They recovered to edge Dallas Roosevelt 57-54 for third place.

For East Central, senior guard Ceddrick Ali erupted for 29 points in the championship game. Brandon McClure added 17 and Albert Jimenez finished with eight.

Sam Houston received 29 points from senior guard Jordon Harris. Juwon Anderson supplied 10 points.