By Brian Argabright
The 830 Times
UVALDE — It was a tale of two halves for the Del Rio Rams in their first playoff game in four years.
Del Rio jumped on District 29-5A co-champions San Antonio Warren in the first half, carrying a 38-34 lead into halftime.
But the second half curse followed the Rams into the postseason Tuesday night in Uvalde as Warren outscored Del Rio, 33-16, on its way to a 67-54 Bi-District round win.
The Warriors (27-8) now advance to the Area round where they will face Harlingen South, who defeated Edinburg Economedes 56-44 Tuesday night.
Del Rio, which clinched a playoff spot on the final day of the regular season, ends its season 15-20 and wondering what could have been.
Warren struggled out of the gate, falling behind by seven points in the quarter as Del Rio surged to a 21-14 lead behind 11 points from sophomore Alan Dobbins.
Dobbins, the son of former Del Rio Queens’ all-district basketball standout Claudia Juarez-Dobbins, joined the Rams following the completion of the football season. He came off the bench early in the season, but Rams head coach Joe Nieto inserted Dobbins into the starting lineup when the district season was in full swing and the lanky and athletic Dobbins proved to be a valuable asset for Del Rio, scoring 23 points and pulling down 15 rebounds in the Rams’ playoff clincher.
Tuesday night, Dobbins found himself often going toe-to-toe with Warren standout, and college basketball prospect, junior Jaylen Crocker-Johnson.
The Warriors’ leading scorer, and a double-double threat every time he stepped on the court, Crocker-Johnson had seven points in the first quarter, but he had 12 points in the second quarter as the Warriors clawed their way back into the game.
While Del Rio freshman Alessandro Elizondo was able to help keep the Rams out in front, Del Rio’s offense began to grind to a crawl. Senior post J.J. Cervantes was neutralized by Warren’s height, and acrobatic guard Nick Rivera, also a senior, was stifled, scoring just four points in the second quarter and going 0-for-4 from the free throw line.
It was Dobbins who lifted the Rams as the first half neared its end as he buried a 3-pointer, his second of the half, and gave Del Rio a 38-34 lead at the break.
Del Rio had relied on its speed and quick hands in the first half to harass Warren into turnovers and sloppy ball handling, but in the second half the Warriors used their size to out-muscle the Rams and take control of the game. That, and Del Rio’s unfortunate trend of poor performance in the third quarter, began the Warriors’ comeback.
Del Rio managed just six points in the third quarter. Warren scored the first six points of the quarter to take a 40-38 lead before Elizondo buried a jumped to tie the game at 40-40. The basket came with 2:45 left in the quarter, ending a more than five-minute scoring drought in the second half for Del Rio.
To make matters worse, the Rams’ free-throw struggles continued in the third. Del Rio was 2-for-6 from the line in the first half. In the third, the Rams went 2-for-7 including three more misses from the usually reliable Rivera.
While Crocker-Johnson remained steady, it was Xaivier Kirk who came up big for the Warriors in the third. Kirk scored seven points in the quarter, including a big three-pointer, as Warren turned a four-point deficit into a four-point lead headed into the fourth quarter.
In the fourth, Warren just overpowered Del Rio. Their inside play resulted in 17 free throw attempts highlighted by Aden Mendez’s 7-of-8 performance in the quarter.
Only eight of Warren’s 19 fourth-quarter points came from the field as Del Rio was unable to keep pace. Rivera hit both his free throws in the fourth, but once Elizondo and Cervantes fouled out, the Rams’ best chances to catch Warren faded away.
Crocker-Johnson finished with 26 points to lead Warren. Kirk had 23 points, and Mendez finished with 12.
Dobbins led the Rams with 21 points. Rivera finished with 12 points, Elizondo had nine points, Cervantes added five points, Joel Dominguez had four points, and William Proffit had three points.
Tuesday’s game was the final Del Rio High game for seniors Proffit, Jairo Venegas, Cervantes and Rivera.
In other District 30-6A playoff action, co-district champions Laredo Nixon defeated San Antonio Taft, 61-59; co-district champions Laredo United beat San Antonio O’Connor, 55-52; and number-three Laredo Alexander fell to state-ranked San Antonio Brennan, 60-38.
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Contact the author at drnhsports@gmail.com
