Coach Lucio Rodriguez, Edinburg Vela pave path for RGV hoops ascension
BY NATHANIEL MATA | STAFF WRITER
Edinburg Vela’s season came to an end after its regional semifinal loss to Cibolo Steele Friday night in San Antonio.
Even though the SaberCats’ defeat marked the end of the 2018-19 basketball season in the RGV, first-year head coach Lucio Rodriguez has a solid foundation for the next powerhouse program.
Vela competed in its second regional tournament in four years and its first sweet 16 at the 6A classification.
“This is a team we’re going to look at that set the standards for this program, and I don’t mean just on the basketball level,” Rodriguez said. “The group of kids we had was very respectful and hard-working. They did the things that people don’t see on the court. Of course, we always want to come to regionals and we always want to win games, but the process to get here, this team will always be remembered.”
Vela went 28-11 overall and earned a share of the 31-6A district championship. The group was able to dispel Brownsville Hanna before knocking off Laredo United South and Laredo United, two Laredo programs that had beat them in non-district.
Rodriguez, who was a standout on the court for Edinburg High in the mid-2000s, said that he’s watched the sport reach new heights first-hand.
Two of the four regional semifinals represented cities south of the Austin and San Antonio metro areas.
“We’re knocking on the door and I think eventually we’re going to catch up to these teams,” Rodriguez said. “We’re playing ball year-round, there’s a lot of kids interested in the sport, there’s a lot of opportunities for kids to play travel. Hopefully, we can be here next year inching toward the elite eight and of course the state tournament at the 6A level.”
The SaberCats will say goodbye to arguably the RGV’s most dominant post player, Noah Sekinger, who had 24 points Friday night. Rodriguez explained the importance of his 6-foot-5-inch rim protector.
“Noah is the epitome of a hard worker, the example of a great player to coach; he’s respectful and has good grades,” Rodriguez said. “And then his on-court skills – he’s by far probably the most dominant big in the Valley. He even showed it here in the regional tournament, they were having a tough time with him.”
Seven seniors will graduate before Vela takes the floor for the 2019-20 season including Nate Gomez, J.D. Velasquez, Sebastian Guardado, Aziel Garcia, Josh Diaz, Joshua Villarreal and Kobe Gibson.
Rodriguez said he hopes the lesson he taught can extend far beyond transition offense and half-court defense.
“As a coach, I know that each one of those kids is going to have more successful journeys than their basketball careers…that’s the ultimate goal, winning games and deep playoff runs, but then preparing them a successful adult life. Yeah, basketball ends, but I’m their coach for life.”
The junior class, however, is in position to continue the SaberCats’ tradition. Bobby Espericueta highlights a group of 11th-graders that include starters Kaleb Coronado and Austin Garza.
“We had a great group of juniors coming back and three starters who were very versatile,” Rodriguez said. “They started the entire season. We bring back minutes and we’re excited about them. We have two starters to fill but there are more than enough capable guys to step in and continue right where we left off.”