PSJA North takes care of business at home against McAllen Memorial

PHARR — The PSJA North Raiders continued their trek as one of the top teams in the region as they won a tough district game against McAllen Memorial on Tuesday, 43-36.

The Raiders are still sitting at the top of 31-5A with a 12-2 district record. This was the fourth meeting between these two clubs this season. The win gives PSJA North its third victory over the Mustangs. They currently are 27-7 on the season.

For the Mustangs, they drop to 27-9 overall, and sit in fourth place in district at a 10-5 record.

PSJA North dialed in from long-range in the first half as they hit a total of 7 three-pointers to help give them a one-point lead after McAllen Memorial got off to a hot start with a 11-3 run in the first quarter. The Mustangs looked in control as Ava Thomas’ aggressive drives to the basket and Lylah Lopez’s shooting hampered the home team’s defense.

However, once PSJA North’s Madison Stanfield hit a three to mend the deficit, the following two trips for the Raiders resulted in threes as well — one from Anaissa Bautista and another from Alexandra Gonzalez.

The start of the second half had Stanfield taking aggressive takes to the basket as she drew the first basket with a two-step lay up with the left hand. Memorial’s Eva Villarreal was automatic from the mid-jumper as she canceled the lay up. Stanfield though on the next trip got another tough lay up in traffic and then Isabella Gonzalez had a tough basket to push the lead to four.

What really sparked the run for the Raiders was the three that touched nothing but net by Gonzalez to push the cushion to seven. She had a game high 17 points, with three 3-pointers. Stanfield was right behind with 12 points.

An ailment for North in the third though was they were over the foul limit early on, which resulted in free throws for the blue squad. Thomas hit some free throws to make it 33-26 at one point. She led the Mustangs with 10 points on the night.

With about two minutes left in the game, the Raiders delayed the amount of possessions for Memorial by wasting as much time off the clock as they could. Mustangs had a tough time getting an open look as time winded down.

PSJA North will look to extend their winning streak against McHi on Friday. The Mustangs will look to rebound against the Bulldogs next week on Tuesday as they are not scheduled for a game this Friday.