Chris Ramirez leads Laredo St. Augustine to OT win over Brownsville St. Joseph to clinch district title

In a back-and-forth duel with the TAPPS District 4-5A championship on the line, senior Chris Ramirez tallied 18 points and eight rebounds to lead Laredo St. Augustine to a 72-71 overtime victory against Brownsville St. Joseph to clinch their district title

LAREDO, Texas — Senior Chris Ramirez poured in 18 points and grabbed eight rebounds to lead Laredo St. Augustine to 72-71 overtime victory over Brownsville St. Joseph Academy. With the victory the, Knights also locked up the TAPPS District 4-5A title.

“Brownsville (St. Joseph) is a very good team and we had to play at the top of our game to win this game,” Laredo St. Augustine head coach Rodrigo Romo said. 

“Maybe we didn’t. but we did just enough to win it. Some of my role players pulled through and it is amazing to have the crowd here and to do it for anyone who has worn the Blue and White.”

Heading into Thursday’s matchup Laredo St. Augustine was riding high after picking up a huge 58-56 victory over Texas Military Institute on Tuesday. All the Knights had to do was beat the Bloodhounds to secure the outright district title.

“I did not know how we were going to react after that game on Tuesday,” Romo said. “Our legs were a little dead but I told the kids that we prepared all year for this and now it is the time for you guys to get it because you deserve it and they played hard tonight.”

St. Augustine (24-4, 11-1) was able to outscore Brownsville St. Joseph Academy 7-6 in overtime after the game was knotted up at 65-65 at the end of regulation. The Knights led 65-60 on a triple by Alejandro Duran with 3:33 left in the fourth quarter.

Brownsville St. Joseph turned to Gerry Martinez who was the Bloodhounds offensive machine all game long. 

Martinez poured in a game-high 35 points and hit a huge 3-pointer at the 2:55 mark to make it a one possession game. He then stole the ball on the next possession and took it coast to coast, flying to the other end of the court for a layup that knotted up the game at 65-65 with 2:33 left in regulation.

The Bloodhounds held possession of the ball with 28.2 seconds left and let the clock wind down to 10 seconds before Martinez missed a floater. Ramirez grabbed the rebounds and raced down the court but was not able to get a shot off before time expired, sending the game into overtime.

Ramirez was coming off a 27 point performance over TMI and came up with some key baskets at the right opportunity in overtime. The Knights lost Duran to the bench after committing his fifth foul to put Brownsville’s Jimmy Navarro on the free throw line. Navarro was able to connect on his second free throw as the Bloodhounds led 66-65 with 3:45 left in overtime.

Laredo St. Augustine’s Jesus Garza hit a layup at the 3:28 mark of OT, but it was Martinez who gave the Bloodhounds a 69-67 edge with 3:21 remaining in overtime.

Ramirez came down the court and connected on a shot from the perimeter to knot up the game at 69-69. The Bloodhounds took a 71-69 lead on a basket by Navarro with 2:17 left in overtime.

Octavio Benavides hit a triple with 1:39 left in the game and that proved to be the last basket for either team, as the Knights held on with air-tight defense down the stretch to secure the narrow victory.

Laredo St. Augustine (24-4, 11-1) carries a six-game winning streak into the first round of the TAPPS 5A boys basketball playoffs, when the Knights are set to return to action against the Fort Bend Christian Academy Eagles (11-11, 6-6) at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 14, in Laredo.

Brownsville St. Joseph (21-7, 9-3) will tip off the TAPPS postseason when the Bloodhounds travel to face the Second Baptist Eagles (21-8, 8-1) at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 14, in Houston.

Check out SBLive's exclusive photo gallery from the game:

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PHOTO GALLERY — LAREDO ST. AUGUSTINE 72, BROWNSVILLE ST. JOSEPH 71 (OT)

All photos by Clara Sandoval