Saldivar’s toughness helps Dragons get past Indians

The Southwest Dragons survived a tough, physical District 28-5A home matchup with the Harlandale Indians, pulling away in the final minutes for a 71-65 victory Tuesday.

Southwest led by 10 points with more than six minutes remaining but had to overcome Harlandale’s pressure defense. The Dragons converted 9 of 12 free throws in the fourth quarter to seal the win.

Southwest forward Dion Saldivar scored 16 of his game-high 23 points in the second half.

“When the game was coming to the end and the pressure was there, they showed some mental toughness and made the plays they had to make,” Southwest coach Danny Stewart said. “I was a very physical game. I was proud of our guys for standing in and trying to take some charges. I thought we had a few more than what were called, but you know they stood in there; they rebounded well. We didn’t give up very many second shots, which is a big deal for us.”

Stewart said Saldivar was the difference for the Dragons with his physical play in the paint.

“Dion was just the more physical presence on the court,” Stewart said. “He was the bigger, more physical guy. He got some rebounds and got some putbacks. We ran some plays for him on the inside ... and his teammates found him. He’s just a big body kid. He did a good job using his body and his strength.”

With the win, Southwest (13-11, 5-1 28-5A) remained in first place in the 28-5A race. Entering the game, the Dragons were in a three-way tie for first with Mccollum (15-8, 4-1) and Southside (10-8, 4-2), which was upset 71-64 by Southwest Legacyon Tuesday.

Southwest will play Mccollum on the road Friday.

A baseline 3-pointer by Korey Nowlin put Southwest up 51-41 with 6:26 left in the fourth quarter, capping an 11-0 Dragons run that started at the 1:20 mark of the third.

But Harlandale (15-10, 3-3 in 28-5A) refused to fade. Going to the full-court press, the Indians fashioned a 12-6 run to get within 57-53 with 3:04 remaining.

Southwest responded with Isaiah Tenorio scoring on a layup off an assist from Jathan Razo. After a Harlandale miss, Zachariah Trevino connected on a runner to put the Dragons up 61-53 with 2:28 left.

Harlandale cut the Southwest lead to 61-56 on Alex Jaimes’ 3pointer. Saldivar helped the Dragons send the advanatage to 65-56 late on a tip-in and two free throws.

Jonathan Regalado and Saxon Langenberg shared the scoring honors for Harlandale with 19 points. Daniel Munoz had 14 points for the Indians.

Supporting Saldivar for Southwest was Julian Lacivita-jenkins (13 points), Nowlin (11) and Ronjay Johnson (nine).

The Dragons converted 13 of 16 from the foul line, including 9 of 12 in the fourth quarter. Harlandale earned nearly twice as many free-throw attempts (29) as Southwest but only made 16, including a woeful 6-of-15 showing in the fourth.

Harlandale, which is still in the playoff picture in fourth place, hosts Southwest Legacy on Friday.