BY GREG SELBER

Rowe defeats PSJA North

MCALLEN – It seemed a bit incongruous at initial glance, with McAllen Rowe matched up against Pharr North in the first round of the City Of Palms tournament Thursday. After all, these are two of the Valley’s elite basketball programs, so couldn’t they find patsies to beat up on to start the annual event?

The answer was most emphatically, no, as both Jose Yebra of Rowe and Jaime Gongora of North preferred to bite the bullet and get with the program from the outset. They’ve faced off several times in the past, always getting a tough challenge with a lot of feedback on their kids. On the plus side for fans beyond that certain advantage in terms of evaluation, it makes for some nasty collisions that are fun to watch from the safety of the stands.

The Palms opener was no exception to the rule of hard-fought grudge matches between two perennial playoff combatants, as the Warriors held off the Raiders 43-40 after assuming a big early lead.

Junior Josh Gatling, with older brother Manny in attendance since Mississippi State football has ended for 2009, scored a game-high 15 points as he continues to play his way into meaningful minutes for the club. Teammate Terrell Thomas, a 6-foot-5, 220-pound man-mountain, blocked six shots, altered countless others, and added 14 points for the Warriors, who are by all accounts one of the top units in the Valley this year.

For North, off to an uncharacteristic 6-8 start, Gabe Rodriguez and John Palacios managed 10 apiece on a night when the defense was outstanding and the open looks were next to nonexistent. North had a couple of chances to tie late, but could not convert long jumpers and settled for the loss.

Both coaches had said beforehand that the first-rounder was just what the doctor ordered.

Yebra, who has taken Rowe to the playoffs in each of his 10 seasons, looks like a lock for No. 11 in 2009-10, with a very athletic squad peopled with long, active kids.

“We know we have a good team but we need games like this,” he said. “Because really, although we have a bunch of athletes who have done well so far, a lot of them are somewhat inexperienced. Jaime’s teams always give us a battle and right now, that’s what we need to get us ready for district.”

For Gongora and the Raiders, the early going has been rocky with injury problems and a lack of real size inside. Still, expect the always aggressive Black Gang to be right in there when the 31-5A wars begin in earnest in January.

“We have been playing better the past couple of weeks, we’re starting to figure it out,” said the coach, in his 16^th season at North; 13 of his 15 years have resulted in postseason trips, making him one of the area leaders in wins during that stretch. “I have got a bunch of super freshmen who are going to be something else, but this team I have right now, it is a great bunch of kids and I think we’ll have a good shot in district. The thing is, they are a hard-working group, they are a lot of fun to be around, and I know they are working hard to get better. We’ll be there soon.”

As stated, North is not the tallest team in the land, while Rowe has a solid inside game paired with some outstanding shooters in Josh Torralba and veteran Raul Villarreal. The Raiders came out with a plan to stop the high-scoring Villarreal, with a box-and-one that limited the senior marksman to six points on the night.

But Gongora and Co. did not game-plan for Thomas, and truth be told, it might not have mattered in the opening minutes. Using his huge frame and surprising agility, the junior post was awesome, intimidating the smaller Raiders with three quick swats and deft hoops inside.

Thus bolstered, Rowe (now 6-2) broke out to a 20-7 lead after one with Terrell and Gatling getting six each and Torrabla burying three Js. Yebra said that the 6-1 Gatling has been coming on as of late, and with athletic skills to burn, the football quarterback showed what he is capable of when given the opportunity.

North tried to run the ball up and outrace the Warriors, but pesky defense from the guard spot stood Rowe in good stead; the result was a hully-gully period from the Raiders while the Warriors were patient in the perimeter passing game, playing inside-out and getting good looks consistently.

But North is North, and that means a scrappy effort every night. Though leading scorer Ito Valdez suffered through a subpar game by his standards, other teammates stepped up and were heard from as the visitor climbed back in.

Gongora said that perhaps the team has found a missing link in the seldom-seen Rodriguez, who came off the bench to play excellent minutes. Again, that’s why a first-round game against such a tough customer is usually worth it.

“Maybe he is going to keep that going, he really stepped it up tonight,” said the coach of the hustling Rodriguez, who had seven points in the second as North cut a 13-point deficit to six by the buzzer.

The Raiders would outscore the Warriors in each of the next two stanzas after halftime, but Rowe did enough to retain the lead throughout. Neither squad managed double-figures in the last two periods, as defense ruled and easy tries were scarce.

Thomas kept on dominating the middle, while the undersized North team forced its foe into several empty possessions with helping defense out of the specialty zone. With 5:40 left in the third Rodriguez nailed a three-pointer to make it 33-28, Rowe, but then Thomas converted inside with a jump hook and Gatling stole one and sped down for the layup to restore some breathing room.

Palacios got hot for the Raiders and in the fourth it was a 5-point game again at 43-38. Ivan Cavazos tallied with 1:54 to go for a 43-40 mark, but that was all for the point-making, as Valdez missed a big trey and Alex Aleman – a team star who like Valdez had his troubles Thursday – turned it over inside the final minute when burly football star Gabe Abiro confronted him in the lane and forced the miscue.

In all, it was typical North-Rowe, with aggressive play, athletic moments of prowess, and a hotly contested result.

Afterward, Yebra’s group readied for the second round, with a contest set against Los Fresnos Friday. He saw some good things from his bunch, especially the active efforts from Thomas and Gatling. But he noted that his guards have got to improve their play in the big games, something he is certain will transpire down the road.

“We got into some situations where after getting a big lead we seemed afraid to shoot the ball from outside,” he commented. “North forced us into some wild play there for awhile, but we were able to come up with a few defensive plays at the end. We needed this kind of a struggle, I think.”

Gongora lauded the play of his team defense, but like his counterpart on the other bench, lamented the overall performance from the backcourt.

“Some of our kids just didn’t play well tonight, but that’s going to happen,” he said. “We had some shots there at the end but we missed them. We got it where we wanted it, a close game at the end, mainly because our defense got their shooters out of their game. I figured we would come back after the slow start, because these kids have a lot of pride in themselves.”

Tags: jaime gongora, mcallen rowe, psja north, yebra