BY JON R. LAFOLLETTE | STAFF WRITER
When Emily Suarez takes the court Saturday for The RGVSports.com All-Valley Showcase at State Farm Arena in Hidalgo, it will mark the beginning of the end of her high school basketball career. But the Edinburg Economedes senior guard won’t have time to be sentimental. She’ll be happy to be on the court at all.
During a game against Weslaco High on Feb. 6, Suarez suffered a severe left ankle sprain in the early going of the first quarter. Suarez says she landed on a defender’s foot after jump-stopping for a pass. The Lady Jaguars would go on to lose 61-25, beginning a three-game slide which would eliminate the team from post-season contention.
“I knew I was injured because I couldn’t get up,” Suarez said. “I thought (it) might be my last basketball game. It’s kind of disappointing that it happened that late in the season. I had actually never been out of a game because of an injury.”
The mishap meant a short stint on crutches, which irked the cross country stand-out bound for TCU.
“The day after the injury I wanted to get up and go run,” Suarez said. “I’m always moving. I was hopping around my house on one foot because I was tired of crutches. Those three weeks (of healing) were torture.”
Suarez would play during Econ’s remaining two games against Edinburg North and Weslaco East, but saw her minutes heavily restricted. She finished with 9 points in both contests.
“It’s tough,” Econ coach Mariana Campos said of Emily’s decision to play. “Because as a parent I don’t know if I want my kid to play with that type of injury. But, as a coach, you’ve got 11 other girls looking at you like, ‘We need Emily on the court.’”
Though Suarez’s bum ankle derailed her senior season and the Lady Jaguars’ quest for the playoffs, the point guard prefers to see the silver lining.
“I think of it more as a blessing now because of everything that happened after that, like learning patience,” Suarez said. “I’m a very impatient person.”
Suarez calls basketball “her first love,” and fell in love with the sport at a young age while watching her older brothers play. She would make shot charts of their performances and was attracted by what she calls “the fluidity of the game.” Despite her zeal for hoops, Suarez lacked the games’ greatest uncoachable asset – size.
“I remember being (4-feet-6) and weighing 58 pounds entering freshman year,” Suarez said. “I was like a stick. (Then-coach Kelly) Garrett threw me out there like, ‘You’re going to be with the big dogs.’”
Despite being the only underclassmen to play starting minutes, Suarez averaged just 3 points and 1.4 assists per game during her freshman season. But the experience allowed her to mature mentally as she grew physically.
“She grew all the way to a whopping 5-feet-2,” Campos said in jest.
When Campos assumed head coaching duties during the 2013-14 season, Suarez says she took on a greater role within the team.
“I definitely had to be a little more vocal,” she said. “I was a leader my freshman and sophomore years, but coach Campos has allowed me to have more of a vocal role and in practices.”
Suarez’s junior year was arguably her best individual season, as she averaged 12.5 points, 4.8 assists and 4 rebounds and 2.5 steals. Behind those numbers, the Lady Jaguars went 11-5 in district play and advanced to the bi-district round of the playoffs where they lost 55-50 to Laredo Alexander.
“That was an amazing thing,” Suarez said of her lone postseason appearance. “I was super nervous. I couldn’t be more thankful. I remember freshman year we won one game in district, so to have the opportunity to play was great.”
For her senior campaign, Suarez averaged 11.3 points, 3.9 assists and 3.6 rebounds en route to receiving first team honors in District 31-6A. As Suarez’s prowess on the hardwood increased, so did her reputation within the Economedes school system.
“She’s set the bar high,” Campos said. “If you walk through our middle school’s locker room area, there are clips of newspaper articles, and lots of kids look up to her. I told her what she’s done for Economedes for all of those young kids that are looking up to her. She’s done that. Nobody else. No one can take that away.”