MISSION — The 2019-20 season has been good to the Sharyland Pioneer boys basketball team.
Earlier this year, the Diamondbacks pulled off a 14-0 run through District 31-5A to capture a second consecutive district title. Now, Pioneer (28-7) finds itself in the Region IV-5A regional tournament for the first time in program history.
“Every player that’s been through my program and ex-players, they’re all special. But this group is a special group. Some of these kids have been starting since their freshman or sophomore year, and they built it up,” Pioneer head coach Rene Gonzalez said after winning the district championship. “One of the things we wanted to do here at Pioneer was build the program up and they’ve done a fantastic job.”
But the success didn’t come easy.
The work started years ago as Pioneer’s core group grew up playing with each other on STX Hoopsters, an Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) team based in the Rio Grande Valley.
The six Diamondbacks who started out as teammates at ages 9 and 10 are three senior captains — Ethan Lee, Lavar Lindo and Luke Padilla — two juniors in Eddie Lee Marburger and Miguelangel Gonzalez — and Derek Luna, a senior who transferred into Pioneer over the summer.
Luna spent his first two high school years playing at McAllen Rowe before transferring to Duncanville for his junior season, where he won the Class 6A state championship with the Panthers as a starter. Luna moved back down to the Valley and found a home at Sharyland Pioneer with some familiar faces.
“We’ve all played with each other since third grade. We played on STX Hoopsters. So the chemistry is still there with me, Luke, Ethan, all those guys. For him (Derek) to come down here and play with us, it’s just another killer on the team,” Lindo said after a win against Los Fresnos.
“It’s like I never left. They brought me in with open arms and we’re just having fun,” Luna said earlier this season.
Luna is in familiar territory playing in the regional tournament. His teammates, however, had never been past the second round of the playoffs before this season.
Still, they’re playing like a seasoned group that has been there before. Pioneer’s final scores for its first three playoff games: an 85-57 win over Mercedes in bi-district, an 88-57 blowout of Corpus Christi Miller in the area round, and a 71-58 victory against Corpus Christi Veterans in the regional quarterfinals.
Now, Sharyland Pioneer is set for its first appearance in the 5A regional tournament this weekend in San Antonio.
“I just need everyone to believe that we can do it,” Luna said. “It was a fun ride last year. I learned a lot from it. Now I’m just trying to teach because what I’ve been through last year. I know what it takes to get to that level.”
The Diamondbacks are faced with a fourth-round playoff matchup against San Antonio Harlan. While Pioneer has won 17 consecutive games, the Harlan Hawks (25-3, 16-0) have won 20 straight.
“Believing is what it is,” coach Gonzalez said.
Sharyland Pioneer and San Antonio Harlan are set for a 6 p.m. tip-off today at Northside Sports Gym in San Antonio. For live coverage and in-game updates from Northside Sports Gym, follow @RGVSports on Twitter.