By MARIO AGUIRRE | STAFF WRITER
EDINBURG — Since learning who it was going to face in the UIL state tournament, the Edinburg Vela coach staff has poured over hours of game film on Hudl and YouTube, trying to devise a plan to prolong their season.
It wasn’t until Sunday evening that SaberCats coach Lalo Rios heard back from a Dallas-area coach, who agreed to share footage of their game against Lancaster. By then, Rios’ suspicions — gathered from newspaper articles, social media, and the like — were affirmed.
Lancaster is, by all accounts, a tall, fast-breaking team — armed with three Division I commits — looking to defend their state title.
“They’re a tremendous talent,” Rios said. “Just watching the film, you could see they play with such a swagger. They play with such a confidence level that we play with too. So, I’m not worried about that part. But that team, considering they won state last year, they’re coming in doing everything they know how to do to try to win it again.”
Since beating Laredo Nixon in the Region IV-5A final on Saturday, Edinburg Vela (35-2) has had four practices to focus on box outs and breaking full-court presses.
Because Lancaster (34-2) boasts a taller lineup, with one player listed at 6-foot-9, the SaberCats specifically worked on their zone sets Tuesday. Rios implored his players to help one another on defense, particularly after breakdowns, and encouraged them to establish themselves in the low post.
“We just got to do to the little things,” Vela’s Luis Salinas said. “We got to push them out of the paint. And if they shoot from the outside, we have to box them out because they’re so long and tall.”
At 6-foot-3, Salinas is the tallest player on the SaberCats’ roster, and arguably one of their more important weapons heading into Thursday’s state semifinal at the Alamodome in San Antonio.
The closest Vela has come to facing a team this tall, Rios said, was Flour Bluff, which lost to Vela in the area round. Trailing 58-51 heading into the fourth quarter, the SaberCats got one of Flour Bluff’s bigs into foul trouble before ripping off a 23-7 run to win.
Those games — including Laredo Nixon, which Vela managed to slow — have helped the SaberCats gain a clearer understanding of how to combat mismatches in the postseason.
“We need to implement these things going into this game,” Rios said. “As you saw against Nixon, we can adapt to any different style. We were able to change the whole dynamic of the game by making it a slow-down, half-court game.
“Just like Nixon, (Lancaster) is going to try to press, run, get out, intimidate us with the speed and athletic ability. And if we just slow it down and stick to our game plan, we’ll be putting ourselves in position to be successful.”
DECISIONS, DECISIONS
As the team gets ready for its final practice before leaving for San Antonio, Rios said he was still contemplating how to attack Lancaster from the opening tip.
“Obviously they have tremendous speed, but this team also has tremendous height,” Rios said. “It’s going to be one of those age-old battles: which is going to win, speed or height? We’re hoping our speed is a plus for us, and we could neutralize that height with speed.”
ON THE ROAD
Today, Vela will leave for San Antonio following a 2:30 p.m. pep rally at the school’s gymnasium.
The event is expected to run a half-hour before fans and students bid adieu to SaberCats as they board the bus for the team hotel.
Vela, ranked No. 8 by the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches, will face No. 3 Lancaster at 7 p.m. Thursday.