SAN PERLITA GIRLS BASKETBALL TEAM with their parents. Fittingly, the last home game of the season for the varsity teams was also the most anticipated, against their long-time rivals from San Isidro. The girls were looking to tighten up the district race, after having knocked off first place Santa Maria the previous week. Like the Santa Maria game, an early spell had them in a twelve point deficit at 21-9. They bounced back and took the lead briefly in the second quarter, before being tied at the intermission. In the second half, they fell behind by double digits again and fought their way back. This time, they were not able to finish off the comeback, eventually falling to 4- 3, which will have them advancing to the playoffs as a third seed.

The boys came in at 5-1, with their only blemish a defeat at the hands of these same Tigers a few weeks back. After San Isidro jumped out early, San Perlita settled in and enjoyed a 37-32 advantage at halftime. Two consecutive threes from Tige Johnson turned a five point lead into eleven early in the third quarter and five straight from Gabriel Lopez gave the Trojans a 60- 43 cushion headed into the fourth. Lopez would then follow with a second three, giving him eight points is under two minutes off the bench. The Trojans ran their motion offense efficiently, taking a little air out of the ball and causing the desperate Tigers to try and chase them down. Johnson slammed down two dunks in the final minute, causing the raucous crowd to chant “MVP, MVP”. With the victory, the Trojans created a tie atop the district, with road games at La Villa and San Isidro to close out the regular season. With this critical district win, the Trojans have cracked the top ten in the TABC Coaches’ poll, being ranked #7 in the state in class 2A.

SAN PERLITA BOYS 7TH GRADE BASKETBALL TEAM with their parents. The middle school teams concluded their seasons on Monday evening, hosting La Villa. The 7th grade boys overcame a third quarter in which they scored no points and left them down 15-13. They then ran off eight straight points before holding on for an exciting 21-19 win that put their final record at 5- 3. David Rodriguez got them off to a good start, scoring seven in the first quarter, before finishing with eight. Jonathan Hernandez scored 5, all in the fourth quarter and Jonathon Stratton added four.

SAN PERLITA BOYS 8TH GRADE BASKETBALL TEAM with their parents. The girls cruised to a 36- 9 victory to finish at 4- 4. Bella Rodriguez had 13 points, followed by Summer Terry with 8 and Daniella Ramos with7. The 8th grade boys fell behind 18- 4 and fought an uphill battle the rest of the evening, before finally falling by a final of 36-16. They also finished 4-4 in district play.

The girls bi-district playoff will take place next Monday or Tuesday. The Lady Trojans will face the 31-AA runner-up, which will be either Freer or Agua Dulce, pending their district championship tie-breaker this Friday.