Rounding the corner Jenna Socha, a member of the Port Aransas High School Lady Marlins JV squad, turns hard against a Goliad defender during a tournament in Goliad Friday and Saturday, Dec. 3 and 4. STAFF PHOTO BY BEV GILBREATH They lost the first game of the Goliad junior varsity tournament, so it would have been easy for the Lady Marlins JV team to give up for the rest of the tourney.

They bounced back to win two remaining games and ended up in second place in the tournament. “I am so proud of how our JV girls compete,” coach Ginger Jones said. “Even when we are matched against bigger schools with older kids, we go into every game expecting to win and willing to dive for loose balls and crash the boards on every possession.” The ladies started down on Friday, Dec. 3, being outscored every quarter by what Jones described as a “much larger and more experienced” Orange Grove team, and ending on the short end of the 25-47 score.

Brenna Martin led the Port Aransas scoring with 11, followed by Jenna Socha with six, Missy Gilbreath with four and Susana Valdiva and Kellie Owens with two.

Down by one game, the Lady Marlins next faced Odem on Saturday, Dec. 4. They took control of that game early, outscoring the Lady Owls 8-1 in the first period and maintaining their lead throughout the game for a 22-7 win.

Again, Martin led the scoring with eight. Gilbreath followed with six, Socha put in four and Owens, Valdiva and Jessica Borden each hit two.

That win put the junior varsity girls into a consolation contest against the Goliad freshman team, a game they found much more difficult to win.

“Our final game was a roller-coaster, with us down at the end of the first, tied at the half, losing at the beginning of the fourth and all the way up to the last 1:30 of the fourth quarter,” Jones reported.

“The girls never panicked or gave up. And with big free throws from Borden that helped us close the gap, and Martin making the tying free throw to send us to over time with seconds left in the game, we were able to put away Goliad by Martin hitting three more free throws in OT and Gilbreath knocking down a lay-up.”

Martin and Gilbreath shared scoring honors with eight apiece. Owens had three and Socha, Borden and Meagan Hardegree each put in two.

The tournament leaves the junior varsity Lady Marlins with a 6-2 record on the season.