By ANDREW CRUM, Staff Writer
Lopez’s Imelda Garcia was a scoring threat every time she stepped on the court.
The senior averaged a shade over 18 points per game to lead District 32-6A and was fourth in scoring in the Rio Grande Valley. She also grabbed four rebounds and four steals per game.
Garcia was named the district offensive player of the year for her production on the court and adds another plaudit to that list by being named The Brownsville Herald’s 2016 All-Metro Offensive Player of the Year.
“It feels good, I’ve worked hard all my years (here at Lopez),” Garcia said. “Even though the outcome wasn’t what we expected, I tried my best every game.”
Lopez had a few other seniors on their roster aside from Garcia, but the rest of the team was fairly young. The Lady Lobos finished last in the district, but with Garcia’s offense, she always gave them a chance to win.
“We had a lot of youth on our team,” Lopez coach Stephen Davis said. “(Imelda) was the one constant there. Even when the others weren’t quite up to par or they were having a bad day, she was always the constant that we would look towards and everyone would lean on. She was a stabilizing force for the team.”
Davis pointed out that his team wasn’t hard to scout or plan for; the No. 1 objective was always stopping Garcia. But it’s that very strategy that is a testament to her as a scorer; she still led the district and was in the top 5 in the Valley.
“She was able to do the things she did despite what the other teams were doing,” Davis said.
Even though the pressure was on her shoulders night in and night out, Garcia exuded confidence.
“I didn’t feel the pressure,” she said. “I was expected to score and I knew I could do it.”
There was no secret to her offensive numbers; it was just the product of hard work. She would practice during her free time, putting in the extra work to get better.
Davis sees Garcia’s success as a step forward for building the program at Lopez.
“That’s another building block,” he said. “We’ve got players here, but the girls that don’t come out (for basketball), hopefully will start coming out. We’re starting to build up our numbers and that’s going to turn into wins and turn into a solid program.”
The Lady Lobos coach hopes his young squad has been paying attention.
I think they see the example she’s set and what’s she’s done for the team and the program,” Davis said. “She’s made a lot of these girls realize if you keep plugging away, you keep trying to work on your craft and get better at your craft, eventually it’s going to pay off. I think the girls are starting to realize that.”
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.