Scoring barrage powers San Antonio Taft past Laredo United in 6A Texas boys basketball playoffs

Five players reached double figures for San Antonio Taft, as the Raiders rumbled to a runaway 71-46 win over the Laredo United Longhorns on Monday night in Alice in the bi-district round of the UIL's Class 6A Texas high school boys basketball playoffs

ALICE, Texas — In their team's first game of the 2022-23 postseason, virtually all of the San Antonio Taft Raiders had a hot hand.

Taft had five players score in double figures during an explosive offensive performance during its opening game of the Texas high school boys basketball playoffs.

The Raiders used their dominant display offensively to soundly beat Laredo United 71-46 in the bi-district round of the Class 6A UIL boys basketball playoffs on Monday night at Alice High School. 

San Antonio Taft now awaits the winner of the Edinburg-Los Fresnos game on Tuesday night in the area round later on this week.

The road came to an end for Laredo United, the District 30-6A champions who had a hard time containing San Antonio Taft’s athletic guards.

“We were not very good defensively and that is usually what we are good at and it exposed us,” Laredo United head coach Archi Ramos said. “They (San Antonio Taft) were fast and athletic and we could just not contain their dribblers.

The Longhorns (25-8) won the District 30-6A title going undefeated and now say goodbye to seniors Luis Arzuaga, JonCarlo Vidaurri, Mark Factor, Jacob Benavidez, Ramon Chavez, Victor Koo, and Diego Saldana.

In his final high school game Arzuaga finished with a game high 21 points and went 5 for 9 from the freethrow line. Saldana tallied 12 points while Chavez added six points while Koo added four points.

San Antonio Taft (20-13) had five players in double figures and were led by Marcus Williams and JD Riojas who had 14 points each while Demetrice Mims and Tristan Holden added 12 points, and Kevin Pierda 13 points.

The Raiders dominated from the inception as they controlled the tempo of the game with Mims and Williams who helped San Antonoi jump out to a 17-6 edge forcing Ramos into an early timeout with 3:21 left in the opening quarter.

Saldana scored a quick basket only to have Mims come down the court with a layup. After Piedra completed a three point play Arzuaga hit back to back baskets to make it a 22-12 ball game. Holden was able to make a basket with 19 seconds left and give the Raiders a 24-12 opening quarter lead.

Laredo United could not get a handle on defense, their bread and butter as San Antonio Taft continued to dominate in the paint. The Longhorns fought back and made it a 30-21 ball game on a triple by Saldana but the Raiders were able to answer back with a pair of free throws by Riojas.

San Antonio Taft took Laredo United out of their element early in the game as the Longhorns were playing catch up the entire game. Even when the Longhorns cut it to single digits, San Antonio Taft always had an answer as they ran the court and were dominant in their transition game.

The Raiders took a 39-24 halftime lead and came out of the 10 minute intermission ready to attack the second half and did not skip a beat on offense. The opening quarter was too much to overcome as San Antonio was able to outscore Laredo United in every quarter, including the third 15-11.

San Antonio Taft held a 52-35 edge heading into the fourth quarter as Laredo United started to press. The Longhorns were able to get a few steals and score at the other end but they also picked up fouls.

The Raiders were in control the entire game as San Antonio Taft and emptied its bench, along with Laredo United, during the final minutes to give their reserve players quality time on the court to close out their bi-district clash.

San Antonio Taft (20-13) advances to the area round of the UIL's 6A Texas high school boys basketball playoffs, where the Raiders will face the winner of the Edinburg Bobcats (25-10) versus Los Fresnos Falcons (24-11) game at a to-be-determined time, date and location later this week.

Edinburg and Los Fresnos will play their bi-district round playoff game at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 21, in Los Fresnos.

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

---

PHOTO GALLERY — SAN ANTONIO TAFT 71, LAREDO UNITED 46

All photos by Clara Sandoval