Dominance down low leads McAllen Rowe past Laredo Cigarroa in 5A Texas girls basketball playoffs
FALFURRIAS, Texas — McAllen Nikki Rowe avenged last year’s early exit from the Class 5A state playoffs with a 49-23 victory over Laredo Cigarroa to claim the area championship at the Falfurrias Junior High.
“This victory is big for us,” McAllen Nikki Rowe head coach Alejandro Robles said.
“Last year, we did not enjoy the journey. It was a lot of pressure on us doing different things for the school, for the first time. I am excited, they are excited and they are excited and we are just enjoying the moment. Whatever comes next, comes next and we will be ready for it.”
McAllen Nikki Rowe (24-10) moves on to play Corpus Christi Veterans Memorial, who took down McAllen Memorial earlier on the night, in the regional quarterfinals.
Laredo Cigarroa (26-11) concluded its season, as the Lady Toros picked up the District 30-5A title for the first time in four year under coach Mary Tobias-Encinas.
“Rowe did a great job coming out tonight and they were ready to go from the first quarter to the fourth quarter,” Tobias-Encinas said. “We just did not come out and execute. The girls had been doing a great job recently playing on both sides of the court and we just did not do that tonight.”
The Lady Warriors dominated from the opening tipoff and were led by sophomore guard Alyssa Cantu, who opened the floor for the team. Cantu was masterful in getting the offense on the right track to find seniors Evelyn Valero and Yulissa Yebra on the block.
She was able to draw the attention of Laredo Cigarroa's defense, only to find Valero and Yerba who finished with 20 points and 15 points on the night, respectively.
McAllen Nikki Rowe was able to neutralize Laredo Cigarroa’s two offensive threats, senior Diane Lara and junior Eunice Cervantes who came in averaging double-doubles.
“I am just proud of the girls and they executed the game plan,” Robles said.
“We knew Diane Lara and Eunice Cervantes gave us everything they had last year and we got rattled. I told my posts that I could care less if you scored any points today as long as you keep them off the offensive glass and just box out. Every time the ball goes up, just box out and give yourself a chance to be successful at the end of the game and I just think that is what we did today.”
Lara got into early foul trouble and only managed seven points on the night to conclude her high school career while Cervantes finished with four points.
The Lady Warriors were able to take a 11-0 lead to open the game as Laredo Cigarroa had a hard time finding the basket and did not score until the 3:01 on a triple by senior Mia Calderon who finished with eight points to lead Laredo Cigarroa.
Baskets by Laredo Cigarroa were seldom while McAllen Nikki Rowe was firing on all cylinders as the Lady Warriors controlled the paint and the perimeter.
Cantu was able to consistently find Valero and Yebra down low offensively, who helped McAllen Rowe take a 19-8 opening quarter lead and own a 28-15 advantage at halftime.
The Lady Warrior defense did not allow Laredo Cigarroa score in double figures in any quarter, holding the Lady Toros to 8-7-8-3 points in each quarter.
Check out SBLive's exclusive photo gallery from the game:
PHOTO GALLERY — MCALLEN ROWE 49, LAREDO CIGARROA 23
All photos by Clara Sandoval
