PORTLAND – The Moreno Middle School Trojans were playing the Gregory-Portland Wildcats last Monday and the A teams dealt their home-standing counterparts a couple of sound losses.

The 8A team started slowly, leading just 9-6 after the first period. The Trojans revved up their offense and defense through the second quarter and pulled away from the Wildcats to lead 25-8 at the half.

The Trojans kept up their scoring and their defense in the second half and throttled the Wildcats 41-22.

James Graham led the Beeville scoring with 17 points. Jordan Cantu followed with 11 while Justin Cantu added nine. Jacob Castro finished the night with four points.

“Augie Canas handled the ball well with nine assists and played tremendous defense coming up with five steals,” said MMS coach Ricardo Maldonado.

The Trojans played shorthanded but had help from some players moving up from the bench to play significant minutes.

“AJ Gomez, Audrick Moorer and Colton Wright came in and they did a great job coming off the bench and played well the time they were in the game,” Maldonado said.

The 7A team broke out of a four-game skid and posted a 36-28 win over the Wildcats. The Trojans were able to keep up the pressure defensively, and limit turnovers on offense to finally turn the tide.

The Beeville boys were down 9-3 after the first period, but fired back and took a 22-14 advantage into the third quarter.

Dolton Corpus finished with 13 points to lead the Beeville scoring. Isaiah Johns added eight. Defensively, the Trojans were led by Thomas Dang, who created several turnovers and was able to keep the pressure on the Wildcats all night, according to MMS coach Ernest Rodriguez.

Joesea De La Cruz finished the night with seven tallies. Blake Casarez managed four markers and Raymond Barrientes added two. Also contributing defensively and off the bench for the Trojans were Bryan Lucio, Isaiah Moreno and Elijah Rodriguez.

The 8B team fell short against Gregory-Portland Monday, 31-7, for their first loss of the season. R.J. Gonzales, Timothy Rincon and Garron Trevino each scored two points and Jarrett Garcia added a free throw.

The 7B game results were not made available as of press time.

Moreno’s next game is not until after the Christmas break when the young Trojans travel to Kingsville to tangle with the Brahmas on Jan. 7.