BY NATE KOTISSO | THE MONITOR
WESLACO — The beginning of district competition meant a little more to Weslaco High and Weslaco East this season. The Panthers and Wildcats brought their talents — and their fans — to Sepulveda Gymnasium on Tuesday for pride and bragging rights.
Weslaco High was the aggressor early and often, throttling Weslaco East 60-14 on Tuesday night.
“That was our whole focus in pregame,” Weslaco High coach Griselda Fino said. “We needed to come out with our foot on the gas pedal and maintain that momentum through four quarters. … Our objective was to make sure that we made a statement with this first game and start off district on the right foot.”
Weslaco High senior Briana Pena led the Panthers (20-4) with 14 points, but her sophomore teammates had their fingerprints all over the game.
Forward Sabrina Cerda scored eight points down low for Weslaco High.
“As sophomores, we have to believe that we’re just as good as the upperclassmen,” Cerda said. “We just have to be confident in ourselves. If we have confidence, that’s really all we need.”
Nine of sophomore guard Kirsten Padilla’s 11 points came on 3-pointers.
“Weslaco East is a big rival. The game gets us all hyped up and really excited,” Padilla said. “We have a lot of pride. We’re big on it. Every time we break out of a huddle, it’s ‘1-2-3 pride.’ It enhances everything that we’ve been working toward. This is the start of something great.”
Backup sophomore guards Aleksa Gallegos and Jaz Saenz entered the game during the fourth quarter and scored two points each.
“These young kids work so hard for us, day in and day out,” Fino said. “Obviously, games can get tight, and they might not see the floor. But nobody understands the impact they have on our team, even if they don’t get into a game. They prepare us for big games. Because we jumped out to a comfortable lead, it was an opportunity for us to return the favor to them. And they came out on fire.”
The Wildcats (10-14) opened the game’s scoring with a 3-pointer by Valerie Valdez but weren’t able to muster much afterward.
“We’re a young team, and we made young mistakes,” Weslaco East coach William Kromer said. “I can’t fault their energy and their effort. By halftime, Weslaco High had taken twice the amount of shots we had. You can’t compete with teams when you’re not putting up shots. Everything we saw here was youth, and it’s all fixable. We’re going to keep getting better.”