HIDALGO — The 8th Annual Hidalgo Pirate Classic is set for tip-off today through Saturday, featuring 24 teams from across Texas.
Hidalgo head coach Gus Sanchez said the boys basketball tournament has grown into one of the most balanced tournaments with eight pools and a number of teams with the potential to advance to the final four.
“We try to balance the pool as much as we can so we can have the top four teams advance to the final four, which is the Platinum Bracket,” Sanchez said. “We got teams like PSJA North, teams like Houston Stafford that have been to the state tournament, of course. This year we have a couple teams from Monterrey, Rio Grande City, Harlingen South, Port Isabel who’s playing good right now, La Feria and Rio Hondo, and of course ourselves. … It’s going to be a battle Thursday and when we get into bracket play on Friday and Saturday.”
Day 1 of the Hidalgo Pirate Classic will feature marquee matchups like Hidalgo vs. Rio Grande City, PSJA High vs. San Benito, Edinburg Economedes vs. Donna High and PSJA North vs. Monterrey Tech. Today’s action is set to tip-off at 9 a.m. with games scheduled every hour and a half, and the last game of pool play slated for 7:30 p.m.
Tournament games will be held in Hidalgo High School’s main gym, Hidalgo High School’s Auxiliary Gym and in the Ida G. Diaz Junior High main gym.
The tournament will also feature two of the Valley’s most winningest coaches in Hidalgo’s Sanchez and PSJA North’s Jaime Gongora.
Last season, Gongora and Sanchez reached milestones by winning their 600th and 400th games of their head coaching careers, respectively.
Before his time leading the Raiders, Gongora coached a then-senior Sanchez at Hidalgo. Together as coach and player, they led the Pirates to a regional tournament.
“It used to be that he was always doing the asking of advice, and now actually I ask him for some of the stuff because he runs some great stuff, and so I just think I’m tickled to death that he’s become such a wonderful coach and that he’s carried what we started,” Gongora said of Sanchez. “When I coached him, our first year we got to the regional tournament, and he was a senior, and he came back and was able to take and bring Hidalgo back to where we left it and kept it there at a very high level. That gives me a lot of pride when I walk in the gym and my name is still up on one of those banners is pretty neat deal.”
“His style, his way of doing things, the way we played, everything that he does as a coach, that’s really what got me into coaching, that’s why I wanted to go to college and come back and become a coach,” Sanchez said of Gongora. “Everything that he did, it’s just his demeanor, the way he does things. Just playing hard, going after life and doing things the right way. That’s really what got me into coaching and that’s the reason I’m here.”
The two have avoided scheduling each other for the most part, but they could potentially meet this weekend. And if they don’t, PSJA North will pay a visit to Hidalgo at 7:30 p.m Dec. 17 for a non-district game.
The semifinals of the Platinum Bracket are set to be played at 9 and 10:30 a.m. Saturday morning at Hidalgo High School’s main gym. The winners of the two semifinal matchups will advance to meet in the championship game at 4:30 p.m., while the losers will meet in the third place game at 3 p.m.
Today’s Games
Non-district
8th Annual Hidalgo Pirate Classic
Hidalgo HS Main Gym
Edinburg Economedes vs. Rio Hondo, 9 a.m.
Grulla vs. San Benito, 10:30 a.m.
Brownsville Rivera vs. Robstown, noon
Port Isabel vs. Weslaco IDEA, 1:30 p.m.
Brownsville Hanna vs. La Feria, 3 p.m.
Harlingen South vs. Houston Stafford, 4:30 p.m.
Hidalgo vs. Rio Grande City, 6 p.m.
PSJA North vs. Monterrey Tech, 7:30 p.m.
Auxiliary Gym
Hidalgo vs. Donna North, 9 a.m.
Weslaco IDEA vs. Lyford, 10:30 a.m.
Monterrey Tech II vs. Stafford, noon
PSJA High vs. San Benito, 1:30 p.m.
Monterrey Tech vs. Brownsville St. Joseph, 3 p.m.
Edinburg Economedes vs. Donna High, 4:30 p.m.
Brownsville Hanna vs. Brownsville Jubilee, 6 p.m.
Brownsville Rivera vs. Alamo IDEA, 7:30 p.m.
Diaz Junior High Gym
La Feria vs. Brownsville Jubilee, 9 a.m.
PSJA North vs. Brownsville St. Joseph, 10:30 a.m.
Donna High vs. Rio Hondo, noon
Rio Grande City vs. Donna North, 1:30 p.m.
Alamo IDEA vs. Robstown, 3 p.m.
Port Isabel vs. Lyford, 4:30 p.m.
PSJA High vs. Grulla, 6 p.m.
Harlingen South vs. Monterrey Tech II, 7:30 p.m.