Perez leads Dragons’ fourth-quarter comeback
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Time was winding down and scoring opportunities were diminishing for South San Friday at the Durbon Center when junior point guard Olando Lopez realized he needed to take action.
Visiting Southwest had scored eight of the previous nine points to tie the score with about 25 seconds remaining. Lopez, who led all scorers with 22 points, threw up a scoop shot in the lane for the winning basket.
South San (11-10, 1-0) won the District 28-5A opener for both teams 61-59.
“We had to go for a layup because of the time – there was only 1.5 seconds left,” Lopez said. “I saw them tie Jordan (Allen) up down there (around the basket) and he passed it to me. I took my two steps and put it up.”
The Dragons (5-17, 0-1) called a timeout with 1.3 seconds on the clock. They had to inbound the ball under South San’s basket. The inbounds pass went to junior wing Aaron Embry, about 40 feet from the basket. He wasn’t able to make the three-point attempt as time expired.
“That was a big-time shot,” South San coach Ray Carroll said of the game-winner. “If we’re patient and share the ball, that’s when we’re at our best offensively.”
Southwest tied it with 24.9 seconds remaining when senior guard Brian Perez was fouled on a three-pointer and calmly proceeded to make each of the resulting free throws. Perez 13 of his team-high 17 points and grabbed five rebounds in the quarter.
All of those fourth-quarter points came in the last 4:22. Perez, who returned to action a week earlier, also contributed six rebounds, three assists and two steals.
“Brian got open a couple of times because they were doing a good job on our big men inside,” Southwest coach David Brawner said. “He got some good opportunities and he knocked them down. He kept scrapping and scrapping, and he made a lot of shots.
“He also had four offensive rebounds (in the quarter). He played with a lot more energy in the second half.”
South San was threatening to put the game on ice when the quarter started. The Bobcats led 46-34 despite being scoreless for the last three minutes of the quarter.
Southwest opened the final quarter by directing its attack inside to 6-foot-4 senior post Devanta Hayes (15 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists) and 6-3 Embry (9 points, 5 rebounds). Hayes accounted for seven points, including a three-point play, as the Dragons reduced their deficit to 50-43 with 5:10 remaining.
“When we really needed to, we focused and got the ball inside,” Brawner said. “It’s a shame we didn’t do it more in the second quarter. But we did a good job getting them the ball and both post players did a good job of scoring.”
South San made a defensive adjustment to take away the easy baskets thereafter.
“We fronted them and made them pass over us,” Lopez said. “That killed it. Then we tried to get some steals.”
With 4:26 to play, Dragons senior Sergio DeHoyos split two free throws and Perez rebounded the missed attempt to slash the Bobcats’ lead to 50-46. A three-pointer from South San senior Jesse Samarripas (15 points, 4 rebounds) extended the lead, but a three-pointer Perez hit at the top of the key made it 54-50 with 2:42 left.
Samarripas and South San senior guard David Valdez (3 assists) both fouled out during the stretch run, fueling Southwest’s comeback hopes. A basket from Eric Alcozer (13 points) on an assist from Valdez and a pair of free throws from sub Sammy Rodriguez re-established an eight-point lead for the host team with 1:17 to play.
“They’re two of our best defensive players,” Carroll said of Samarripas and Valdez. “I thought Sammy Rodriguez and Jordan Allen did a fantastic job down the stretch.”
A free throw from Southwest senior Nigel Thompson (3 assists) and a three-point play from Perez whittled South San’s lead to four with 34.2 seconds on the clock.
Southwest was coming off an impressive 72-67 non-district win Jan. 6 at New Braunfels.
“We played pretty well the other night,” Brawner said. “Tonight, we were just a little too emotional early. I’ve never really seen that before.”
The Dragons used that intensity to take a 16-7 lead as Embry scored seven points. A basket from Lopez (7 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals) and a free throw from Alcozer cut the lead to six as the first quarter ended.
“In all honesty, I thought we matched their (intensity) on defense,” Carroll said. “Where we struggled was on offense. I want to say on 10 of 11 possessions (in one stretch), we got nothing out of them. The good thing was that we were only down six points.”
South San outscored the Dragons 24-9 in the second quarter, with Lopez supplying 10 points. The Bobcats tied it 22-22 on back-to-back 3-point baskets from Samarripas and Valdez. Lopez scored four of seven unanswered points as South San took the lead. The Bobcats led 36-27 at halftime.
Southwest plays host to East Central Tuesday and travels to Corpus Christi Carroll for a Friday game. South San, which won its second-consecutive game, was scheduled to plays Steele Tuesday in Cibolo and returns home to play Corpus Christi King at 7 p.m. Friday.
“This gives us great motivation for our next game with Steele Tuesday,” Lopez said. “This was good for us right now.”
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