By MARIO AGUIRRE | STAFF WRITER
WESLACO — So much of what Weslaco High coach Gabe Valdez has preached since his team’s loss to Edinburg North earlier in the month has been about defense.
He implored his players to improve their traps, to keep players from getting over screens and to help one another in half-court sets. On Friday, the Panthers executed it to near-perfection, shutting down one of the Valley’s top scorers in Kobe Patterson, and Weslaco High came away with a 62-50 win at home as a result.
By doing so, the Panthers (21-7, 6-1) regained the top post in District 31-6A, bumping the Cougars (21-9, 6-2) to second place. It also helped them split the season series at one apiece.
Should Weslaco High win out its remaining five games, it would be crowned district champions for a second straight year.
“We knew coming into the second round of district we were going to have to take care of business,” Valdez said. “We can’t rely on anyone to beat each other. If we do our job and win the way we’re supposed to, we’ll be OK.”
The Panthers have won six in a row now since dropping to their district opener to Edinburg North. They did it, in part, by holding Patterson scoreless through the opening half. Patterson, who averages a team-high 15.4 points per game, scored just 5 points Friday, and was constantly pressured as he tried to pass midcourt.
It was a large reason why the Cougars struggled offensively, particularly during the second quarter when they mustered only four points — all of it coming from Brandon De La Cruz, who finished with a game-high 23 points — as they trailed 26-20 at halftime.
“They were really aggressive on defense,” Cougars coach Rudy Garcia said. “We were expecting that, but maybe it was a little more than we thought they were going to do, and that shifted the game to their side.
“They turned it up a notch, and we failed to do so.”
Justice Free came up big for Weslaco, nabbing a team-high 18 points and 11 rebounds, while getting Edinburg North’s U.B. Pequeño (four fouls) into foul trouble. Braxton Bloomquist chipped in with 13 points, four rebounds and four assists. Jason Morales finished with 12 points, and Nick Mora contributed six points, five rebounds and seven assists.
Mora also drew cheers from the home crowd when he saved the ball from going out of bounds by passing it behind his back, and then cleaned up the ensuing missed basket to punctuate the team’s sixth straight victory.
“That’s just what he does,” Valdez said. “Nick is kind of the glue guy for us. He keeps us together, and he does a lot of things other than scoring that molds us.
“It’s hard to find that in players. He comes through for us a lot.”
Weslaco High, the No. 5-ranked team in the RGVSports.com poll, now has five games remaining in district, three of those against teams that entered Friday out of the playoff picture.
“We know a lot of teams are going to come out and try to take out spot,” Mora said, “but we’re going to do our best to try to stay there.”