By ANDREW CRUM, Staff Writer
Porter hasn’t had a full squad nearly all season, and injuries have been the culprit.
“This year the injury bug is killing us,” Porter coach Tony Saavedra said of his team, which is down three girls with injuries and one who will come back the week of Jan. 5. “I have been going to all these tournaments, going to games with six or seven girls.”
That includes the Cowgirls’ top player, Danielle Ocampo, who has been out for a couple weeks with an ankle injury. It’s the same ankle she injured late in the season last year.
While the lack of depth has been detrimental to the Cowgirls record, Saavedra looks at the positive.
“It’s tough, but in a way it’s good because you get to see the character of these girls,” he said. “They go out there and bust their butts, and they aren’t asking to come out, not saying they’re tired. They go out there and they’re playing. One girl told me, ‘Coach we don’t have time to be tired, we have to play.’
“You can’t coach effort and these girls give me a 110 percent effort.”
ON THE MIND: After a 2-0 start in District 32-6A, Los Fresnos lost to Harlingen South before the holiday break.
Instead of forgetting it quickly and move on to the next game, the Lady Falcons will have to wait a while.
The UIL requires teams to rest for a five-day period that includes Dec. 24, 25 and 26, and either one day after and before, two days before, and the like, but it must be five consecutive days.
“We didn’t have a very good game against Harlingen South,” Los Fresnos coach Kim Edquist said. “We gave up a lot of second-chance shots, we didn’t make free throw and that cost us the game.”
After the break, the Lady Falcons will play in a tournament at McAllen Memorial.
“I like to have those four quick games to help us get back in the groove quicker,” Edquist said. “It’s to get us in basketball mode and hopefully prepare us for the remainder of the season.
“We have one of the toughest districts in the (Rio Grande) Valley. It’s not going to be easy for anybody in our district.”
TAKING A BREAK: Along with Los Fresnos, the rest of the Metro-area teams have to take the mandated break. But it varies when it comes to what they choose to do returning to basketball-related activities.
Porter, Hanna and Rivera will take the week and resume practice after that.
“We need to get our legs back under us,” Rivera coach Willie Brown said via text message.
Lopez will take a break but return to practice for a few days and play a non-district game against La Joya High. First Baptist will do the same and play a game against St. Joseph Academy on Jan. 5 before resuming district play.
Brownsville Veterans Memorial and Pace will play in the McAllen Memorial tournament; St. Joseph will play in the Blizzard tournament and Port Isabel will travel to Corpus Christi for the West Oso tournament after the break before district play begins again.
Andrew Crum covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him at (956) 982-6629 or via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @andrewmcrum.