By ANDREW CRUM, Staff Writer
The teams in District 32-6A are getting a jump on the start of district play.
On Friday, Brownsville Veterans Memorial plays host to Harlingen South, Hanna travels to San Benito, Rivera is on the road as well to take on Harlingen High and Lopez is at home against Los Fresnos.
Rivera defeated Weslaco East on Tuesday in its final tuneup before district play. That was important as the Lady Raiders open against the defending champion Lady Cardinals.
“You always want a win going into district, that’s one of the things we achieved (Tuesday),” Rivera coach Willie Brown said after the victory. “Anytime you win a ballgame it gives you confidence, but we’re not going to play overconfident. We will have our hands full with Harlingen High. But we are very optimistic and thankful for the position we’re in.”
Rivera also finished third in last weekend’s Tommie Wiseman tournament, and Darcy Cardenas was named to the all-tournament team.
At 10-4, the Lady Chargers don’t have as many wins in the preseason as they have had in the past few years, but their schedule has been packed with tougher opponents, too.
Brownsville Veterans coach Valentin Paz said the plan was to get his team better prepared for district and for any postseason opponents.
“Even though we’re a little back on the pace for wins, I feel they are more quality wins than we’ve had in the previous years because we’re playing tougher teams,” he said. “That’s why we scheduled all these top teams in the preseason.”
Porter and Pace and the other teams in District 32-5A, and Port Isabel and the rest of District 32-4A begin district play Dec. 15. St. Joseph Academy will begin TAPPS district play in Jan. 16.
FLYING HIGH: Hanna went 3-3 in the Laredo tournament this past weekend, and freshman Mia Paz was named to the all-tournament team.
The Lady Golden Eagles also defeated Grulla easily Tuesday. At 13-9, Hanna appears ready to take the next step and earn a playoff berth this season.
The Eagles fell just short last season, but with the talented Paz, Hanna seems to have more weapons than last season to get one of the top four district spots.
COMING TOGETHER: First Baptist continues to play well in the early season.
The Crusaders finished 2-1 in the San Isidro Shootout last weekend. First Baptist lost its first game to eventual tournament champion Grulla but rebounded with wins against San Perlita and IDEA Donna.
The Crusaders begin district play in January.
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.