BY NATE KOTISSO | STAFF WRITER
EDINBURG — It would have been fair to assume that the District 31-6A title would be decided in one way or another Tuesday night.
Weslaco High and Edinburg High were the preseason favorites in 31-6A, and the Panthers had a leg up on the Bobcats by virtue of their 15-point victory Jan. 4.
But Edinburg High exacted its revenge, defeating Weslaco High, 48-33, to create a first-place tie in the district with two games left in the regular season for both teams.
“Of course that last game we played stung us a bit, but we learned from it and moved on,” Edinburg High coach J.D. Salinas said. “We had so many games that we had to get ready for, so we couldn’t dwell on it. This is a big game for us because we’re back tied for first place and we’ve got another big game with (Edinburg) Vela on Friday night.”
Edinburg High junior center Brianna Sanchez is one of two Briannas on the Bobcats roster. Affectionately known as “Big Bri,” Sanchez had been dealing with injuries throughout the season. Sanchez doesn’t remember exactly how many games she missed, but she admits that there were too many to count.
Sanchez played sparingly in the first district meeting with Weslaco High, but she played heavy minutes against the Panthers on Tuesday.
“I felt great, especially since my team has my back,” Sanchez said. “They knew I was playing injured, so they helped me out a lot. I’m so grateful for the team that I have.”
“Big Bri didn’t start playing with us until mid-December,” Salinas said. “When we played at Weslaco, they’ve got two phenomenal post players in (Illiyah) Cantu and Sabrina (Cerda). I felt that we were getting boxed rather easily and they were being a little bit more physical than us. Brianna played a lot of minutes tonight and she was coming in with a tight hamstring. She did a great job for us.”
Sanchez scored eight points for the Bobcats (27-8, 9-1). Two of her baskets came on buzzer-beaters to end the second and third quarters.
“I’ve never had a buzzer-beater in a game before, so tonight was a first for me in three years,” Sanchez said. “It’s all because my teammates worked together. They made those opportunities for me to score.”
“Those key baskets from Brianna to close the half and the third quarter were huge,” Salinas said. “It might seem like two small baskets, but those were important, game-changing baskets.”
Forming a successful game plan to the basket against Sanchez, a near immovable force at 6-foot-2, was the task for Weslaco High coach Griselda Fino and her coaching staff.
Thanks to help from Cantu and Cerda, the Panthers (24-7, 9-1) were able to manufacture second chance scoring opportunities, but they couldn’t cash in enough of them in the end.
“We couldn’t buy a bucket tonight and that was the difference,” Fino said. “We put up a ton of shots and the rebounds gave us opportunities to put even more shots. We couldn’t even hit bunnies tonight. Those are things we’ve worked on and practiced in the past, but we couldn’t get it done. I’m still proud of my team. They battled for four quarters. The ball didn’t bounce our way this time.”
EHS senior Jenessah Santa Maria, whose scoring average of 19.5 points per game was second-best in the Valley last week, wasn’t able to get in a groove shooting from the outside. Santa Maria also committed four personal fouls halfway through the fourth quarter but managed to stay in the game and finish with a team-high 15 points.
“We’ve got a lot of confidence in Jenessah, but any coach is going to be cautious about how many fouls she has,” Salinas said. “Her presence and athletic ability are some things that we don’t want to lose on the court. I have to give credit to my staff and (assistant) coach George Olvera. I asked him what he thought about leaving her in or taking her out. Coach (Olvera) had the confidence, saying, ‘Leave her. She’s fine.’ When you have coaches like that in situations like that, it’s good to have coaches on the same page with you.”