By MARIO AGUIRRE | STAFF WRITER
EDINBURG — As much as Braxton Bloomquist enjoyed pouring in a game-high 26 points on Friday, the Weslaco High guard was more impressed with his team’s defense during a 62-45 victory over Edinburg High.
“We just play with effort and hustle out there,” Bloomquist said. “Our defense is our offense.”
Ever since they surrendered 50 or more points three times within a week in December, the Panthers (20-7) have sharpened their defense, winning all but one of their games convincingly as they closed out the first half of district with a 6-1 record and a first-place standing in the 31-6A order.
Bloomquist scored at least five points every quarter, and finished the night with four 3-pointers, as Weslaco had one of its better showings of the year. They did it with Justice Free contributing 12 points and manning the paint all night, and Jordan Young chipping in eight points. Both players helped ignite the Panthers’ defense Friday, including a stretch during the fourth quarter in which they blocked shots on four consecutive possessions.
“It was never a question as to whether we could play defense,” Panthers coach Gabe Valdez. “We had the break around Christmas where we had the defensive lapse, but we’re getting back to the basics of our defense, and it’s really showing out there.”
Weslaco, ranked No. 4 in the RGVSports.com poll, closed out the first half on an 11-0 run to get a 33-24 edge. With 2:50 to play in the third quarter, the Panthers went on an 8-0 run to open a 43-28 lead.
It helped that Weslaco was armed with 14 players, and able to turn to a variety of lineups, while Edinburg dressed only 10 players and played eight.
Andrew Cantu, the Valley’s third-leading scorer at 22.1 points per game, finished with 12 points for No. 10-ranked Edinburg (13-10, 4-2). Teammate Jesus Cantu also finished with 12.
Neither player ever checked out of the game Friday.
“They just ran us off the floor,” Bobcats coach Esequiel Cuellar said. “Defensively, they did a great job. They forced us to take low-percentage shots, and we had a hard time getting any type of rhythm. We did a poor job transition-wise getting back on defense, and we got out-rebounded to the point where they went after every loose ball and we got caught ball-watching.”
Edinburg had one other player (RJ Rocha, 10 points) score in double figures, but otherwise struggled to keep up with Weslaco, which entered the night in a three-way tie for first place in district, along with Edinburg North (20-8, 5-1).
As a result of beating PSJA North on Friday, Edinburg North remained tied with Weslaco for the top spot, as both teams resume the second half of their district schedule next week.
“We’ve got to regroup,” Cuellar said. “We have another big game Tuesday against Edinburg North. We just have to come up with a little more intensity. We need to execute better, bottom line.”