Falcons make history with playoff win over Sabercats

Updated: March 13, 2020

By DAVE FAVILA
LFN

The Los Fresnos Falcons basketball team made history on March 3 as they became the first hoops program in the school’s history to advance to the fourth round of the playoffs.

In front of a large crowd at Bert Ogden Arena, the Falcons emphatically stamped their ticket to the Sweet 16 with a 62-49 regional quarterfinal win over Edinburg Vela.

With the victory, the Falcons ran their overall record to 33-3.

They faced San Antonio Brandeis in the Region IV-6A semifinals at 5:30 p.m. on March 6 at the Littleton Gymnasium in San Antonio.

“This team is more disciplined,” said Falcons head coach Marco Hinojosa after the game. “I’ve had some talented ballclubs, but they weren’t as disciplined as this team. We talk about and preach that every day. Be smart, be disciplined, don’t get greedy, just play Falcon basketball. I’m just proud of these guys for being students of the game, listening to game plans and all that good stuff.”

The Falcons came out shooting early and never looked back as they outpunched the Sabercats behind freshman Gerry Martinez, who led the way with 16 points.

“We came out (the day before the game) and we wanted to see how the rims felt, and they felt good,” Martinez said. “Ever since then we knew it would be a good shooting game for us. This just feels amazing; I never thought this would be possible for my freshman year, but here I am heading to the next round in San Antonio.”

The Falcons’ journey through the postseason began on Feb. 24 with a 68-49 bi-district win over Edinburg North. They then held off Laredo Alexander 48-45 in the area round on Feb. 28 before upending Vela.

“I don’t allow my team to celebrate much and we’ve won six district titles,” Hinojosa added. “Aside from the first one, the other five we hadn’t even celebrated; that’s an expectation now. I think they were due for a celebration. I’m just proud right now.”