RGVSPORTS.COM
Weslaco High always comes to a game prepared.Friday was no different, as the Panthers beat Laredo United South, 62-57, in the Class 6A area round game. In the 24 hours prior to the game, Weslaco experienced several obstacles that threatened to derail its preparation.
At Thursday night’s practice, senior guard Emily Saenz, who averaged 11.8 points per game during the regular season, hurt her ankle.
“Emily went down with an injury, which forced us to put her on crutches,” Weslaco coach Griselda Fino said. “Of course the girls were rattled, because we were going into a game without her. We had been working on a game plan all week, that obviously included her. She goes down in the last 15 to 20 minutes of practice.”
Things didn’t get any better Friday morning. The Panthers boarded the bus at Weslaco around 9:30 a.m. The bus broke down, turning a four hour trip into an eight and a half hour trip.
“We get to the gym in San Antonio, and we had already missed our shootaround,” Fino said. “So we literally ran into the locker room, and changed into our uniforms. We barely had 14 minutes to warm up before the game.”
Even in the game, it was a struggle. Saenz ended up being cleared to start the game, but was on a heavy minutes restriction. The team trailed by 11 points at the half. Later in the game, senior forward Gabriella Garza fouled out. Brianna Peña picked up four fouls and had to fight the rest of the game to avoid the fifth.
“It was just one of those things where, we just had to fight through all of that adversity in the first half,” Fino said. “We did the best we could to hang on. I think once we settled down, and we were able to figure out that we were ok, in the second half we played a lot better.”
Fighting through the injury, Saenz finished with 14 points. Peña added 15.
Sophomore guard Jada Lopez and Freshman guard Kirsten Padilla played more minutes than usual to fight the foul and injury trouble.
“Jada Lopez had a huge night for us defensively,” Fino said. “That transferred to a good offensive showing for us, especially in the second half.”
Lopez finished with six points off the bench. Padilla added three, although they were a big three.
“Kirsten Padiila, our freshman, stepped up huge in Emily’s absence,” Fino said. “She just did a lot of good things. She was big time at the foul line there at the end, which kind of sealed the deal for us. She did a good job of taking care of the ball, and she got a few defensive stops.”
Senior guard Andrea Villegas scored 12 points for Weslaco, including eight in the third quarter. That’s when Weslaco bounced back from a halftime deficit to regain the lead.
Weslaco will now face Laredo United in the regional quarterfinals with the date and location to be determined.
CLASS 4A
CRYSTAL CITY 52, HIDALGO 50: At Zapata, it took double overtime to decide the outcome, but in the end Hidalgo was eliminated from the playoffs. Hidalgo finishes the season 27-11.