Still perfect: McHi bullies way over PSJA North in district matchup
Two of the top teams in the RGV tipped off against one another last Tuesday as the McHi Bulldogs visited the PSJA North Raiders at their house.
McHi (25-0, 6-0) took the reins as the top dogs in the Valley as they ripped a district win from the Raiders (17-9, 3-2) with a 52-38 district dub in 31-5A.
Although both sides of the bleachers were full and pride could be heard throughout the gym, it was a near stalemate and a tad quiet in the first three minutes as neither squad was able to put up points on the board. The drought was ended by Dylan Gonzalez’s lone free throw for the ‘Dogs. The one point was followed by D’aundre “Dre” Canada’s drive to the basket, which resulted in two free throws for McHi.
North’s Jaylen Ramos answered right back with a floater off the backboard to finally get the game going for the teams. The Bulldogs’ first basket was by Judah Rios, who hit a mid-jumper on the left elbow. McHi then pushed to a 6-0 run before being ended by Mason Lopez with a three-pointer from NBA range to bring it to 9-5 going in the ‘Dogs favor.
At the end of the first quarter, it was 12-8 with McHi leading.
The second quarter had the Raiders making it tough for Canada to get his game going as he shot only 20% for the game, but was able to grab 12 points on the night. Although PSJA North tried to chip away at the deficit, they never once led in the district contest. Missed free throws were one of the contributing ailments in the Raiders’ push — not being able to cash in shots from beyond the arc was another issue.
Babat Akindayomi, junior for McHi, grabbed board after board as he racked up 16 on the night — earning him a double-double with 12 points. For the Bulldogs, a second-chance shot by Rios gave McHi a four-point spread going into the half.
The purple squad, though, are very good at wearing their opponents down as the second half was “all” McHi.
From the start of the third, a turnover by the Raiders resulted in a three-pointer from the top of the key by Canada, pushing the lead to 29-22. Rios, stretched over on the right-hand baseline, to knock down a jumper for the ‘Dogs to increase the lead and forcing PSJA North to take a timeout. He had 8 points on the night — most coming from mid-jumpers.
The Raiders had a plethora of frustrations on the offensive side in the third as the only basket came from Lopez, who had 14 on the night. The senior had a tough time getting open and more so, sophomore Isaiah Garza had tremendous difficulty driving to the basket and capitalizing on possessions. Anytime he cleared a way from the top of the key, more McHi defenders were there to greet him in the front court. Garza finished with 12 points.
At the end of the third, it was 37-24 for the Bulldogs as Gonzalez hit a buzzer-beating layup. He had 9 points.
McHi controlled the fourth quarter as the Raiders tried their best to climb over the deficit. The best that PSJA North was able to get was within 10 points. From the defensive pressure to the aggressive rebounding by McHi, the Bulldogs cleared the path to the 14-point district win.
The loss drops the Raiders to third place behind McHi and Sharyland Pioneer. McHi sits at the top with a perfect 6-0.
PSJA North since then lost an overtime thriller to Sharyland, 72-65, in an away game on Friday. But, they bounced back and beat Nikki Rowe, 51-28 to sit at fourth place in the district.
The ‘Dogs traveled back to McAllen on Friday and cruised in a 70-51 win against McAllen Memorial. Then, they continued their perfect streak in a highly anticipated game against Weslaco, 62-49.
At the time of reporting, they are ranked No. 14 in the state for division 5A high school basketball.