By MARIO AGUIRRE | STAFF WRITER
EDCOUCH — There might come a time later in the season when Edcouch-Elsa coach Robert Capello will come to appreciate the experience his players picked up early in the year.
But for now, the Yellowjackets are taking their lumps. Without their football players, they lacked the depth to stay toe-to-toe with Brownsville Veterans Memorial on Tuesday, and it resulted in a 100-66 non-district loss at home.
“We just ran out of gas,” coach Robert Capello said. “We don’t have enough legs to play the way we want to play. Eventually we will.”
With four players scheduled to compete in the third round of the football playoffs Friday, E-E (2-4) was missing a level of rebounding that Capello has come to expect from their multisport athletes. The Yellowjackets were continually outmanned and out-sprinted up the court, particularly during the second and third quarters, as Brownsville Veterans (6-0) scored E-E 27-18 and 20-13, respectively.
“Stamina took over,” Capello said. “But I’m not disappointed. We competed well.”
The Chargers had the benefit of height, speed and overall continuity on the floor. Though both teams showed signs of early season rust, Brownsville Veterans was able to pull through with five players scoring in double figures, including Kevin Gomez, who poured in a game-high 27 points.
E-E lacked that level of firepower. Roel Gonzalez scored 21 points and Jesse Granados added 15, but the Yellowjackets otherwise found it difficult to score against a pesky defense.
“We’re two teams that like to run, and our depth in the end just took over,” coach Larry Gibson said. “I think we’re coming along very well. We won the Brownsville (ISD) Tournament. We came in here tonight, we could have had a let down… but they came out and played like the team we got there in the second half.”
With 3:50 to play in the third quarter, a Brownsville Veterans player saved the ball from going out of bounds, before Aaron Villarreal scooped it in, drawing a foul. Villarreal smiled as he stuck his chest out with his team leading 61-46.
Moments before the game ended, the Chargers scored on an outlet pass that allowed them to hit the century mark in points for the first time this season.
“There’s still a lot of basketball ahead of us,” Capello said. “We’ll get better. The more we play, the better we’ll get.”