The Martin Tigers waltzed into their matchup on Friday with four straight wins but they left with five. They escaped with a win against Palmview by the margin of a single free throw, 36-35. The victory was all the more spectacular given Martin's disadvantage in MaxPreps' Texas basketball rankings (they are ranked 769th, while Palmview is ranked 185th).
Kiara Gonzalez was her usual excellent self, scoring 15 points along with nine rebounds and seven steals. That makes it four consecutive games in which she has scored at least a third of Martin's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Priscilla Torres, who scored six points along with five rebounds and three steals.
Several Lobos players turned in solid performances, despite ultimately coming up short. Perhaps the best among those players was Nicole Flores, who scored 16 points along with two steals. Flores has been hot recently, having posted two or more steals the last eight times she's played. Another player making a difference was Destinee Garza, who scored six points along with five steals.
Martin has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won six of their last seven matches, which provided a massive bump to their 15-16 record this season. As for Palmview, their loss ended a six-game streak of away wins and brought them to 25-6.
Both squads will have to hit the road in their upcoming games. Martin will take on Cigarroa at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Palmview will be staying on the road on Tuesday to face off against Mission Veterans Memorial at 7:00 p.m. on January 23rd. Mission Veterans Memorial is coming into the matchup on a five-game losing streak.
