BY NATE KOTISSO | STAFF WRITER
CORPUS CHRISTI — Rachel Carmona is a Valley basketball staple.
Carmona was an imposing Broncs forward at Pan American and naturally pivoted to coaching, where success soon followed. After tenures packed with district titles and playoff runs at Hidalgo and Edinburg High, Carmona left Mission High to head back to her hometown of Laredo to coach the United Longhorns.
In the first meeting against Edinburg High in the postseason, Carmona and United prevailed 58-53 on Friday. The Longhorns advance to take on District 29-6A foe Laredo Alexander next week in the regional quarterfinals of the Class 6A state playoffs.
“They’re a well-coached team,” Carmona said of Edinburg High. “I’m proud of the way our girls played. They stayed together. Overall, it was a competitive game. We pulled out the win, and that’s what is important.”
Edinburg High coach J.D. Salinas had been a longtime assistant of Carmona’s while she led the Bobcats.
“I love coaching, and I love being a part of it, regardless of who is on the other side,” Salinas said. “Yes, she (Carmona) is a good friend of mine, but at the end of the day, it’s still basketball. We’re going to come out and compete and give it our best effort.”
Salinas’ first job in education, coincidentally enough, was at United Middle School in Laredo. He and his family moved to Edinburg after talking to Carmona.
“Rachel is my mentor,” Salinas said. “She gave me that first opportunity as an assistant at the high school level. I can’t say enough about what I experienced being on her staff. We just happened to meet up in the playoffs. Eventually, you’re going to cross paths. You’re going to run into some people that you coached with, are good friends of yours and so forth, but somebody’s going to move on, and somebody isn’t.”
Edinburg High (31-9) didn’t exhibit any second-round jitters. The Bobcats jumped out to a 9-2 lead in the first quarter and led by eight late in the second.
But Edinburg High allowed United back into it after halftime, and the Longhorns built a four-point lead late in the third quarter. Bobcats senior Jayla Santa Maria scored four points in a row to tie the game at 33 with under a minute to go in the period. Then, United guard Natalia Treviño canned a 3-pointer to give the Longhorns a three-point lead as the third quarter drew to a close.
“We got into a little bit of foul trouble,” Salinas said. “They got to the line, and we started making some bad decisions offensively. We tried our best to get back in it, and we got it to a one-possession game, but then we’d foul them again. That’s the way the game went.”
Seniors Jayla Santa Maria and Mercedes Hernandez carried much of the offensive weight, combining for 41 of Edinburg’s 53 points.
“It’s been nothing but fun,” Santa Maria said. “I’ve learned a lot from my coaches and my teammates over four years. I’ve played with Mercedes all four years, and to play with all of my sisters (Jenessah and Julissah) has been amazing. We wanted to build EHS back up to what it was before.”
“I know we’ve left a great impact on the younger girls,” Hernandez said. “We’re like sisters. We showed them what leaders we were and how this team needs to be run. If our coaches get sick and they can’t come out, we could still play a game. We know what they want. We know what they need. Now, we’re passing it down to Jenessah, Daysha (Tijerina), Brianna (Sanchez), Julissah, A’nnika (Saenz) — all those girls coming back next year. This is their team now.”