By CONSTANCIO MARTINEZ, JR.
Special to the PRESS
On Friday, January 23 the (10-14) Port Isabel ECHS hosted the (12-5) Jubilee Brownsville Titans in a key district game.
The Tarpons entered the matchup coming off a two-game win steak with wins over La Grulla (56-46) and Hidalgo (58-57). Similarly, the Titans were coming off a pair of solid wins over Valley View (79-47) and La Feria (62-49).
As the game got underway, the Titans got the ball down into the paint to forward, Nick Zarate who at 6’-7” dunked the ball with ease. Jubilee continued to use their size advantage and stole the ball midair leading to another score on the following play.
The Tarpons offense had a hard time adjusting to the Titan’s length which led to several turnovers and missed shots. It was not until midway into the quarter that PI scored off a putback by Grayson Estes making it a 11-2 game.
As the game went on, the Tarpons started to adjust to the size difference using their quickness and tenacity. With less than two minutes left in the quarter, guard Shiloh Galvan found Aidan Ramos by the basket for the two points as the Tarpons were in the midst of a 7-3 run. With its lead cut down to 17-9, Jubilee called a timeout.
Right before the quarter ended, Ramos added another basket, his fourth of the period. The Titans led 24-11 after one quarter of play.
As the second quarter began, the teams started to trade baskets. The Tarpons started to find their rhythm and started to knockdown some threes forcing Jubilee to call another timeout as they hung unto a 31-24 lead with 2:56 showing on the clock.
As the halftime buzzer went off, the Titans headed into the locker room with a 35-29 lead.
The third quarter started as a defensive battle with both offenses trying to find a weakness in each other’s defenses. With about three minutes into the period, Estes grabbed a rebound and passed it to Bryan Ramirez who in turn passed it back as Estes who proceeded to hit a 3-pointer. Titans lead trimmed down to 39-34.
With both teams meeting the foul limit, the rest of the period was a free throw competition. But just as the third quarter was about to finish, PI’s Eli Alvarez snuck in behind the defense for a last second bucket. Titans led 54-47 at the end of three.
As the fourth quarter got underway, the Tarpons started to fatigue as less Titans’ jump shots went uncontested and Jubilee started to pull away. As the final buzzer went off the Titans had secured a 72-52 win.
This season, the Tarpon have fielded a relatively undersized group, with center Grayson Estes (6’-1”) being the exemption. But in this game, the size difference was arguably the most lopsided, as the Titans lived up to their name with six players on their roster that are 6 feet or taller, including one at 6’-4” and another at 6’-7”.
The Tarpons not one to back down, gave it their all. What the Tarpons lacked in size they made up for it with tenacious play, but they were unable to sustain that intensity for all four quarters and faded down the stretch.
“We knew going into the game they were going to have a height advantage. We battled back and forth but we just couldn’t get a lead on them.” Said head coach Gilbert Rodriguez. “I’m extremely proud of this team for how far they’ve come since playing summer league in June. We know what we have to do going forward. This group is fully invested in accomplishing our season goals.”
The Tarpons will wrap up the first round of district games this Friday, January 30 when they host the Valley View Tigers at 8 p.m.