SINTON — Over and over again Tuloso-Midway looked like it had build a little momentum as the Warriors tried to chase down Beeville in a Class 4A Division I area round basketball playoff game.
The Trojans established a double-digit cushion late in the second quarter on the power of back-to-back 3-pointers and T-M was forced to try to rally because of that deficit.
And although the Warriors got the deficit as close as three points at 44-41 with possession, Beeville forced a turnover and got an easy basket, and another, always finding a response in a 60-53 win.
The Trojans, who claimed their first outright district championship in 27 years this season, now have another accolade to put on the banner for the 2025-26 team — regional semifinalist.
“We’re making some history this year,” Beeville coach Jordan Gonzales said. “It is a great group of kids, they deserve all the credit in the world. We thought we could have a great season — my coaching staff and our assistant coaches do a great job with our subvarsities and we try to strategically place kids were they can continuously develop.
“We knew the weapons we had. Thinking you can do it, and actually doing it are completely different. We are extremely proud and starting to exceed expectations a little bit.”
Gonzales credited the team’s seniors for being able to help the team withstand T-M’s pressure and come up with the key possessions the Trojans needed to kill any momentum the Warriors built.
“They actually won the second half, but we were able to do enough in spurts and respond just enough to hold them off in the second half,” Gonzales said. “Our senior leadership — Joseph Perez, Davyn Perez and Brayden Martorell — was big. We leaned on our seniors and they never got out of control and stayed composed to help us stick to the defensive plan and weather those storms.”
Davyn Perez said the Trojans play better overall when they have a good first half.
“We play better when we have a lead in the first half,” Perez said. “Once we can do that we have this belief that we will push through and finish it.”
Davyn Perez said the upperclassmen from the 2023 team instilled the work ethic and understanding of what it took to be successful when he was a freshman and he has tried, with the team’s other seniors, to pass that to the younger players.
The 2023 team won two playoff games before falling in the regional quarterfinals.
Gabe Luke led three Trojans in double-figures, scoring 13 points to lead Beeville as Martorell (11) and Bubba Banda (11) also contributed,
T-M’s Rashon Clay led all scorers with 15 points and Nathan Avalos added 12 for the Warriors.
T-M coach Tres Garcia credited Beeville for finding the answers every time the Warriors made a push, while also lamenting his team’s missed opportunities.
“We missed some wide-open shots and didn’t take care of the ball in the first half,” Garcia said. “We put ourselves in a hole. We fought back to give ourselves a chance in the game, but credit to Beeville, they knocked down shots when they needed to.”
Beeville advances to the regional semifinals for the first time since the 2015-16 and the first time in the second year of the UIL’s current split division playoff format.
The Trojans will face Davenport, 60-54 winners against La Vernia in the next round.
This article originally appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: Beeville seniors help basketball team add to historic season
Reporting by Quinton Martinez, Corpus Christi Caller Times / Corpus Christi Caller Times
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
