Calexico bests Brawley, guarantees IVL title share
CALEXICO — The Calexico boys’ basketball has had it with barnburners. After each of their first four Imperial Valley League contests was decided by four points or fewer, the Bulldogs finally managed to do some margin-building on Tuesday, putting away the visiting Brawley Wildcats, 62-49 here.
It was a big win, and not simply because of its double-digit point differential. No, it’s big because it guarantees that the Bulldogs, with their top-of-the-standings 4-1 league record (22-3 overall), will be some version of IVL champion at season’s end for the first time since 1996. Whether they’ll be outright champs or co-champs depends on the outcome of their game with the Southwest Eagles (1015, 3-2), whom they play in El Centro at 7 p.m. tonight.
The Bulldogs were on top of this one pretty much the whole way. They were up 15-9 at the end of one and built that lead up to 32-19 heading into the half.
The Wildcats chipped away at that lead on the downhill, coming within four at one point in the fourth quarter — thanks to some timely threes and some Bulldog giveaways — but Calexico was able to weather the storm and re-widen the gap before things were said and done.
Bulldog coach Hugo Estrada, credited his team’s defensive effort for the W.
“We started with good energy on that end at the beginning of the game,” Estrada said, “We were consistent in getting deflections that led to easy buckets. We give credit to the defense every time in a game like this.”
Calexico also benefited from a balanced scoring effort that saw four players hit double-figures. Fabian Reyna led the way with 15 points. Aaron Tabarez had 13; Julian Beltran added 12, and Derek Lopez scored 10.
Estrada indicated that the Bulldogs are pleased with their historic accomplishments, but are not yet satisfied with them. In order to continue on their upward trajectory as a program, “it’s important that we leave no doubt” as to who the league champ is by beating Southwest.
Brawley (19-8, 2-3 IVL) plays Central (13-14, 1-4) in the Golden Ball Game tonight at 7 p.m., also in El Centro.