By CONSTANCIO MARTINEZ, JR.
Special to the PRESS
On Friday, Dec. 6, the (0-6) 4A Port Isabel Tarpons hosted the (2-7) 5A Roma Gladiators in a non-district matchup. Entering the game, the Gladiators were coming off a two-game winning streak. Meanwhile, the Tarpons were eager to pick up their first win of the season, thus snapping their losing streak.
Both teams got off to a slow start. The first points, a basket by Port Isabel’s Shiloh Galvan, came two and a half minutes into the game. The teams seemed too anxious and rushed their shots, which contributed to many of the missed shots.
The first quarter ended with the score tied at 11-11.
PI’s Cleveland Smith hit a three-pointer in the top of the second quarter to give PI a 14-11 lead. He started to find his shot as he hit another one midway into the quarter as PI led 21-17. Both teams remained aggressive as they traded points. As the quarter came to an end, PI’s Christian Smith drove to the basket, hitting a floater at the buzzer and the Tarpons headed into the locker room with a 26-23 lead.
In the third quarter, Roma went on a 5-0 scoring run as they took a 30-29 lead. The lead didn’t last long as Cl. Smith found his twin, Ch. Smith open for a three-point bucket as the Tarpons regained the lead, 32-30. After missing his shot, PI’s Shiloh Galvan grabbed his own rebound and made the basket with the foul. Galvan made the free throw shot which gave the Tarpons a 40-38 lead heading into the final quarter.
As the fourth quarter got underway, Port Isabel slowed its offense to wind down the clock. Unfortunately, slowing down the tempo also slowed PI’s scoring as the Gladiators pulled ahead 42-41 with three minutes left in the game.
With less than two minutes left in the game, Ch. Smith snatched up a loose ball and hit a big three-pointer from the corner to give PI a 46-44 lead. With time winding down, Roma started to foul on purpose. Ch. Smith went 1-2 from the free-throw line to give PI a 49-44 lead which stood till the buzzer signaled the end of the game.
S. Galvan led the team with 18 points. Cl. Smith had a double-double as he scored 12 points and had 12 rebounds to go along with four steals and three assists. Ch. Smith chipped in with seven points, five rebounds and four assists.
Port Isabel Head Coach Gilbert Rodriguez was pleased with the win and sees his team only getting better.
“We practiced for the first time with everyone this week and were finally able to put our base offense and defense in. We scheduled tough 6A and 5A regular season opponents to prepare us for district and look forward to getting better each game,” said Rodriguez.
The Tarpons will be competing in the La Feria basketball tournament on Thursday, Dec. 12 to Saturday, Dec. 14.