By JOSHUA McKINNEY, Staff Writer
When talking to the Pace Vikings’ starting five, a familiar theme comes up: chemistry.
All five starters return from last season’s playoff team, which lost to Mission Veterans Memorial 65-32 in the bi-district round of the playoffs, and they’re looking to make a run at a District 32-5A title this season.
A close bond exists among this group, and it has been a driving force in the Vikings’ 5-2 start to the season, which includes the consolation championship in the BISD Tournament and close wins against Class 6A programs Edinburg Economedes (50-48) and Harlingen High (52-51).
Angel Munoz, a senior guard and fourth-year varsity player for Pace, says the steady growth during the years has been a surprise to him.
“It’s nothing that I would have expected,” Munoz said. “We grouped together as individuals and ended up coming together. We’re brothers now. Everything’s good, and we understand each other now. If there’s a problem, we fix it together. That’s the only way we’re going to get better and better.”
Munoz combines with Alex Acosta, Esteban Garza, Luis Rodriguez and Andres Salgado to make up starting corps for the Vikings this season.
With this veteran group returning for another year together on the court, coach Jose Luis Ramirez isn’t caught off guard by Pace’s strong play early in the season.
“It’s not so much of a surprise,” Ramirez said. “With the talent of level of teams we played, we could easily be 7-0 or 0-7 at this point. It’s learning how to win. I think that we’ve learned how to win. Certain games we might not have won last year, we’re winning now. I kind of expected that maybe a little later than now but we do have everybody back. They know what to do in certain situations, and it has helped us in a lot of those games we’ve been able to pull off.”
“It’s pretty good (having these five players together again),” Acosta said. “We play in school and out of school, so we have good chemistry off and on the court as well. It’s good. We feed off each other positively, we’re always boosting each other up day in and day out.”
Playing with this group brings out the best in everyone on Pace’s team.
Just ask Salgado, a junior guard for Pace who was named the All-Valley newcomer of the year last season and leads the Vikings in scoring with 13 points per game. Starting alongside these guys fostered a growth of confidence in his game while playing as a freshman.
“It really helped because I was playing with some good guys,” he said. “I wasn’t afraid to play on varsity anymore (as a sophomore). At first I was nervous, but after I played my second game of my freshmen year I wasn’t anymore.”
It’s a luxury to have five players on the court who not only understand their own roles but the way each plays on the court. The nature of the team helps Pace bring a balanced product to the court every week.
Salgado provides the Vikings with high-volume scoring. Rodriguez, a senior who played quarterback on Pace’s football team, is considered the team’s long-range sharpshooting expert (2.1 three-point shots made per game), and junior point guard Acosta excels in ball distribution on offense, averaging 1.9 assists per game.
Strong defensive play is the specialty for Munoz (1.6 steals per game). Garza, a senior capable of playing guard or forward, does a little bit of everything for the Vikings. He leads the team in both offensive and defensive rebounding (2.6 offensive and 3.6 defensive boards per game) and keeps the rest of the guys from getting down during games.
Ramirez sees this group benefiting the team not only with experience while on the court but helping the guys behind them get better, which improves the Vikings’ overall depth and gives future contributors a chance to grow while watching a talented team take court.
“Having those five players means there are five guys on the bench learning from that group,” he said. “It’s something I haven’t thought about before this year. We’re definitely stronger because we have five teachers, five strong kids on the floor.”
Joshua McKinney writes for the Brownsville Herald. You can reach him at (956) 982-6663 or via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @joshuabvherald.