BY JON R. LaFOLLETTE | STAFF WRITER
McAllen Memorial placed fourth in Tuesday’s Memorial Tournament, an accomplishment which came as a surprise to the Lady Mustangs.
“My players didn’t expect it,” coach Clarisse Arrendondo said. “But they’re glad they did.”
Memorial played three Brownsville area schools in the tourney, including a 41-38 win over Brownsville Hanna. The Lady Mustangs lost to Los Fresnos in the third-place game by a score of 36-35.
“I’m very pleased with our performance,” Arrendondo said. “I told my girls we can play with anybody.”
Sophomore forward Ebony Johnson was named to the All-Tournament team. Johnson, a sophomore, is an integral part of the Lady Mustang’s offense, averaging 12 points and 8 rebounds.
“She likes to shoot from the outside,” Arrendondo said. “She pushes the ball up the court. She’s just as good handling the ball as our guards. We’re trying to teach her to stay inside.”
Arrendondo is in her first year as Memorial’s coach, following a previous stint at San Benito. Though she took over a Lady Mustangs team (10-11, 1-1, District 30-6A) that missed the postseason a year ago, a youth movement spurred by Johnson and teammate Victoria Izaguirre – a sophomore guard – has the team once against thinking about the playoffs.
“The growing process is coming along pretty good,” Arrendondo said. “We’re working on our fundamentals.”
The most pressing area of concern for the coach is her team’s lack of outside shooting.
“Our guards don’t look to shoot as much as they should,” Arrendondo said. “I think in the last two weeks, we’ve done a lot of shooting during practice. I think they feel more confident.”
Memorial will look to improve upon its strong tournament showing as district play resumes Friday at La Joya (6-13, 1-1).
‘ONE LAYUP AWAY’
A lone layup made all the difference for Weslaco East in Wednesday’s practice.
“We always practice better after a loss,” Lady Wildcats coach William Kromer said.
Weslaco East lost a nail-biter Tuesday at Mercedes. The Lady Wildcats had the ball with 10 seconds remaining and trailed 43-42. Though guard Ashely Cruz drew contact at the rim, Kromer says the officials “swallowed their whistles.”
“We’re one layup away from celebrating,” Kromer said. “But a loss causes you to refocus tremendously.”
The Lady Tigers attempted 15 more shots than Weslaco East, a result of the Lady Wildcat’s depleted depth at the post. Faith Olszack is slated to return Monday after suffering a broken clavicle early in the season, and Sabrina Rodriguez is slowly working her way back from a high ankle sprain, and came off the bench against Mercedes.
“When she can make her sprints like the rest of the team, she’s good to start again,” Kromer said. “I’m afraid if I push her too quick, I’m afraid I’ll regret it.”
Though the Wildcats (13-10, 2-0 District 31-6A) came up short, Kromer remains focused on the season-long march to the post season.
“I’m not worried about our record right now,” he said. “I’m worried about getting better.”