By MARK MOLINA | The Brownsville Herald
After picking up a win at Lopez Tuesday night, the Brownsville Veterans Memorial Chargers are 4-0 record in District 32-5A play.
Not only did the win over the 1-3 Lobos keep the Chargers unbeaten and tied atop the standings, it also signified their third road victory this district season as they also won at Mercedes and at Porter.
While the feat is a nice one, Chargers head coach Larry Gibson isn’t viewing his squad as the team to beat as the defending champion Pace Vikings also are sitting at 4-0 following a 59-43 win over Valley View.
“It means a lot because this is three road wins we have already, so that means these teams have to come to our house,” Gibson said. “But you know, the champ is the champ until you beat them. So right now, Pace is the favorite. They won it last year and nobody has to beat them this year. So in order to be the champ, you have to take the belt from the champ. We just have to keep fighting.”
The Chargers have a pair of big games coming up as they take on Edcouch-Elsa on Friday, followed by a huge district game against Pace on Tuesday night and a road game at Donna High on Jan. 18.
Friday night’s game also is slated to be just as crucial as the Yellowjackets are 3-1 and have won two straight games after falling to Mercedes 73-70 in overtime back on Jan. 2.
The next three games aren’t any easier for Pace as they play at 2-2 Porter tomorrow night, followed by games at Brownsville Veterans and against Edcouch-Elsa.
Pace head coach Jose Luis Ramirez said his team has grown after enduring a tough non-district schedule.
“Our preseason was pretty challenging; we played the best of the best,” Ramirez said. “We started off with Weslaco High, then Los Fresnos, PSJA North and Harlingen High. I think all those games gave us a lot of experience. We may not have won, but they really taught us a lot. You’re really starting to see our growth. It’s a very competitive district and now our kids feel more confident. Our kids feel like ‘Hey, we can compete with those schools, so we’re not too bad.’ I think at this point, when you start out like this, you just continue to grow.”
Other area boys teams in action Friday are the Los Fresnos Falcons and the Port Isabel Tarpons.
The Falcons will be at Harlingen High for the District 32-6A opener, while Port Isabel is looking to get back on track after dropping its first District 32-4A game 60-54 against Hidalgo Tuesday night.