With the Armadillos down by one and 2.5 seconds left in the Texas Collegiate Athletic Conference championship game, SAC Guard Devyn Castillo fought through a double-team to catch an inbound pass under the hoop and throw up a final contested shot through a swarm of defenders. As the ball fell short of its target, Castillo, who led her team with 31 points, fell to her knees and cried as Northwest Vista players and fans rushed to celebrate.
The two-time defending champion Armadillos fell to the top-seeded Northwest Vista College Wildcats 75-74 at Northeast Lakeview College’s Llano Wellness Center Sunday afternoon, falling just shy of the three-peat they hoped to bring home for SAC.
Castillo, who averaged 27 points a game during the season, gave everything she had, and as the team fell behind late in the fourth quarter, Castillo stepped up, hitting two free throws with 15 seconds left to bring San Antonio College within three. After forcing a Northwest Vista turnover, SAC scored a quick layup, which set up the final play.
The second-seeded Armadillos advanced to the title game after defeating the University of the Incarnate Word Cardinals 72-41 Saturday.
“It was a tight game all the way up until the last five minutes,” SAC Head Coach Abel Castillo said about the championship game. “We missed some shots; they hit some threes. But that’s okay. We kind of expected it was going to be a 40-minute fight.”
SAC, which was playing with just seven players total, implemented a full-court press in the second half, which proved to be a tactical mistake. With a short bench, SAC’s players struggled to turn the press to their advantage as Northwest Vista broke it repeatedly, converting easy points in transition.
“You gotta believe in yourselves!” Coach Castillo told his players at the break before the fourth quarter with SAC trailing 58-55. Castillo eventually called off the press late in the fourth quarter.
Devyn Castillo said the loss will fuel her moving forward as she transitions to the next chapter.
“Every loss kind of sucks,” she said. “But we use this as motivation. I’m graduating, looking at a school in Austin, and I have a tryout in two weeks. Hopefully that goes well.”
Forward Kalia Muniz said the team will grow from the experience.
“We can’t let this loss define us,” Muniz said. “We got a little big-headed, and sometimes we need a loss to remind us what it feels like.”
After the game, Coach Castillo told his players to keep their heads up.
“They’re good kids and very competitive,” Castillo told the Sundial. “Some people go through life without winning anything. These girls made it to the championship. They were winners.”
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