BY NATE KOTISSO | THE MONITOR
ALAMO — District 31-6A was the only league in the Valley to present a full offering of district games on the Friday night before Christmas. This meant both Edinburg High and PSJA Memorial players had to push through one more day of competition before the UIL’s mandated five-day holiday layoff goes into effect.
Overall, both teams struggled shooting from the field but the Bobcats capitalized on the Wolverines’ miscues to a 40-23 victory.
“It’s hard to stay focused on the game before Christmas weekend,” Edinburg High coach J.D. Salinas said. “It’s hard to have that drive to come out and compete when there are a lot of other things going on, but that’s not an excuse. Any district game is going to be intense regardless of when it is played. Since Coach Gutierrez has been here at PSJA Memorial, they’ve thrived on defense and never make it easy for us. The girls found a way.”
Early on, the Bobcats (19-7, 3-0) rode the coattails of point guard Mercedes Hernandez. The senior scored seven of her game-high 15 points in the first quarter. By halftime, Hernandez’s nine points were equal to the entire output from the Wolverines.
“We needed that jumpstart to keep it going for the rest of the game,” Hernandez said. “It’s a lot like a spark when you try to start a fire. You need that spark to get the flames going.”
“We’re blessed to have kids like Mercy on our team who have been here for four years,” Salinas said. “Our girls weren’t shooting the ball too well. In games like this, someone usually steps up and tonight that was Mercedes.”
The PSJA Memorial defense disrupted Edinburg High’s offense, specifically their outside shooting. Three days after making 6 of 10 3-pointers against Edinburg Vela. The Bobcats were 2 of 12 from 3-point range on Friday.
“They’re really fast, so our main objective was, ‘How are we going to score?’” Hernandez said. “It’s not about running plays. It’s about getting on the fast break as soon as we get the ball. We needed to beat them at their own game.”
The Wolverines (13-13, 1-2) were held without a field goal until the 6:15 mark of the second quarter.
“We didn’t execute in our offense whatsoever,” PSJA Memorial coach Marissa Gutierrez said. “Any layup that we did have or shot underneath the basket wasn’t finished. We deviated from our game plan, so we broke and were trying to play catch up after that.”
The Bobcats are open with regards to their district schedule next week, so Salinas decided to use the opportunity to play a non-district road game next Friday night versus Corpus Christi Veterans.
“That’s going to be another test for us,” Salinas said. “Corpus (Christi) Veterans is a 5A team but they went three rounds deep into the playoffs last year. More importantly, the game will help get our legs back under us before we face PSJA High the following week.”