Martin breezes by Valley View on Hector Chacon night

Martin honored school hoops legend Hector Chacon in the perfect manner Friday night: with a big win.

A throttling, really.

The Tigers (14-13, 8-2 District 31-5A) overwhelmed Valley View 82-27 at home for their fourth-straight victory.

Martin celebrated Chacon prior to the game with a portrait unveiling and named its basketball court after him — Hector Chacon Championship Court. Chacon, who was a player on the Tigers’ 1956 state title team and served as head coach for 32 years, will be inducted into the Latin American Basketball Hall of Fame in May.

“It was a very special night for all of the Tiger basketball family, for coach Chacon and also special for me,” Martin head coach Hector Noyola Jr. said. “He was my basketball coach at Martin for four years. Whenever I played for him, we always talked about how neat it would be if (I became) the head coach at Martin. We’d joke around about it — never really thought that it would happen.

“And just coming out with the win and everybody getting an opportunity to play — kids that haven’t gotten much of an opportunity during the season got an opportunity tonight and did well. It was just a great night for everybody.”

The game action Friday was never close and resembled Martin’s 48-point blowout of Valley View in the first round of district play on Dec. 15. Martin forced turnovers early and often with its full-court defense and the visitors couldn’t withstand the Tigers’ scoring onslaught.

It was 22-5 Martin by the end of the first period. By halftime, the Tigers’ lead ballooned to 40 at 55-11.

Mathew Duron drew the largest cheers from the crowd Friday. The junior had two dunks including one off an alley-oop pass. He stuffed the stat sheet once again with nine points, six assists, seven rebounds and six steals.

Luis “Red” Ortegon, LMT’s Male Athlete of the Year, led the way in the win with 29 points (7 of 11 from deep) and five rebounds. Cesar Rivera posted 17 points, his second-highest scoring total of the season, and added five boards. Kevin Zamora paced the home squad with 12 rebounds.

As a team, the Tigers grabbed 40 rebounds, forced 16 steals and had 25 assists in their dominating performance.

Noyola said he was pleased with his team’s effort considering the odd circumstance of back-to-back district games — a consequence of postponements early in the week due to the cold front in Laredo. The Tigers made the three-hour drive to play Sharyland Thursday.

“I was a little hesitant about how we were going to come out energy-wise,” Noyola said. “I liked our energy on the defensive end and we were able to make some shots.”

Valley View’s Andy Sepulveda and Felipe Ayala had 10 points apiece in the loss.

Martin will face Roma on the road next Friday looking for its fifth consecutive win.

In other local action Friday, Cigarroa’s losing streak continued.

The Toros fell 63-52 at home to Rio Grande City for their fourth-straight loss. They drop to 10-18 on the year and 6-4 in District 31-5A play.

Head coach Enrique Villarreal said rest may be the key for his team to pull out of the recent slump.

The Toros were led in the loss by Jorge Salazar (15 points), Mikey Gallegos (12) and Edgar Fraga (10).

“We were a bit slow at the beginning and picked it up close to the end of the game, but it was too late,” Villarreal said. “We just have to refocus and continue to move on to the next opponent.”

Cigarroa faces Sharyland on the road next Tuesday.