The Lady Cougars used a strong fourth quarter run to pull past the Lady Red Ants 37-31 and take the title.
Along the way, the Lady Coogs picked up wins against PSJA North JV, Edinburg IDEA, Donna IDEA and Monte Alto twice.
“Our chemistry is starting to show. Early on we were still missing some kids because of volleyball,” said Santa Maria coach Andrew Sierra. “Right now we’re peaking at the right time and I want our girls to be ready for district,”
Heading into the fourth quarter, Santa Maria led 28-23 and held off a Lady Red Ant rally. The Lady Cougars fed off a 9-1 run late in the fourth quarter that gave them a 10-point lead with under three minutes to play.
“Tonight, was a big win for us. We knew Progreso was going to be tough. The girls know them (Progreso) well and they have friends and family there,” said Sierra. “It was definitely an intense game, but our girls kept their composer and I’m proud of them. We knew this was going to be a tough tournament, but from the get-go I knew we could win the tournament.”
Santa Maria got some strong play from freshman Yazmin Cantu, who made her presence known with three blocks, and nine points while teammate Alyzza Garcia netted eight points in the win.
“She can do a lot of things for us,” Sierra said of Cantu. “I’ve been watching her since she was in junior high and I knew she was going to be a special player that can play multiple positions for us. Tonight she attacked the basketball and played some great defense.”
Senior Lorena Ayala was named the tournament Most Valuable Player while Keana Ortiz and Cantu were named to the all-tournament team.
“We had a lot of games and it was tiring,” said Ortiz. “We knew we had to be ready for Progreso because they’re a good team. I’m glad we were able to pull through. Toward the end I think we were frustrated so we used that and played aggressively, and played strong defense and it worked out for us.”