Aztecs lose in nail-biter to Andress 59-54
By Samuel Guzman
Aztecs lose their second straight home game to the Andress Eagles 59-54. After dropping their first game against Burges High School last Friday, the Aztecs are still trying to find their groove and continue to improve throughout the season.
The game consisted of back and forth action, momentum was a key factor for both teams, but the Eagles prevailed in the last minutes of the game. The Aztecs now drop to a record of 0-2 and hope to use Tuesday night’s loss as motivation to keep going strong.
The first quarter began slowly for both teams as they failed to get on the scoreboard. The slow start to the game forced Eagle’s Head Coach Jim Forbes into an early timeout. The scoring drought was broken by the Eagles with 5:34 left in the quarter. The Aztecs’ scoring drought was broken with a swift assist from senior DJ Worrell to senior Ronnie Fauntleroy for an easy lay-in. The quarter ended with a score of 8-8.
The Aztecs came out looking more alive in the second quarter. Aztecs were feeding the ball to DJ Worrell, who could not be stopped. Worrell played confidently, nodding his head every time he scored, giving the impression to everyone that he could not be guarded. He scored 10 out of the 15 points the Aztecs had that quarter, leading them into halftime down 23-27.
“I want to keep attacking them,” Coach Raul Lopez said to his team at the half. “Trust your teammates.”
The third quarter was a neck-and-neck battle. The Aztecs managed to score 16 points that quarter. Junior Ricky Espinoza scored one point; senior Robbie Sierra scored two points; senior Isaac Menchaca scored three; Ronnie Fauntleroy with three points; senior Raul Tapia Jr. with three points; DJ Worrell with two points; and junior Martin Aragon with two points. The third quarter ended with the Eagles leading 45-39.
The fourth quarter was a complete turn of momentum in favor of the Aztecs. Guard Isaac Menchaca was hustling all over the floor: diving for loose balls, running into the stands and playing with a defensive intensity like no other.
“It just gets everyone going and the whole momentum changes,” Menchaca said. “I just want to try and be that momentum changer.”
Menchaca wasn’t lying about that. Aztecs captured the momentum with two clutch three point shots from Tapia Jr. and a put-back slam from Worrell that ignited the crowd at the Temple. Worrell finished off the game with a total of 20 points. The Eagles managed to slip out with the win in the last minutes by capitalizing on free throws. The Eagles managed to knock down 8-14 free throws in the fourth quarter, escaping the game with a win of 59-54.
“We need to execute and finish the games off,” Menchaca said. “We win some, we lose some.”
The Aztecs will be hoping to turn it around by playing in the EPISD Tournament November 17-19 at El Paso High School.
