MERCEDES — A young Rio Grande City team played like four-year veterans and head coach Gus Valenciana made two critical adjustments during the second half that his team converted with perfection as the Rattlers defeated Mercedes 51-42 in the bi-district round of the Class 5A playoffs Tuesday at Mercedes High School.
Sophomore Melanie Lopez scored 13 of her team’s 26 points during the second half, many of them coming after Valencia told his team to extend the floor with still six minutes remaining and the Rattlers leading 46-40.
The move forced Mercedes to come out of their packed 2-3 zone and that’s when Lopez, who scored just two points during the first half, went to work. She drove past her defender on three consecutive setups as Rio Grande City extended its lead to as many as 11.
“Melanie came alive today in the second half,” Valenciana said. “She was huge in the second half and made some great decisions and attacked the basket. She got blocked a couple of times but he also slice in and made a few huge layup.”
Mercedes’ all-everything player, Mika Vento, scored a game-high 19 points and pulled down 14 rebounds in what ended up being her final high school basketball game after a standout career. The four-sport athlete was an all-district selection in volleyball, softball and basketball, and a district champion in track. Sellie Gonzales, another senior and scorer for the Tigers, scored 11 points, nine coming during the first half.
Rio Grande City allowed just 14 points in the second half, five in the fourth quarter. The Rattlers trailed 28-25 at the half.
“I felt we were giving them easy stuff in the first half,” Valenciana said. “We knew some of their plays and in that first half we weren’t where we were supposed to be at times and either reached in or didn’t box out. But the girls played great in the second and we tightened up defensively. They played great in the second half.”
When the teams came out in the second half, that’s when Valenciana made his first adjustment setting up offensively using a high-low post Emily Lopez and Alyssa Reyna scored six quick points off that setup and got some breathing room. After three quarters, they turned that three-point deficit into a three point lead at 43-40.
The ball would go to the top of the lane where Vento would be pulled out to defend. Then the ball would quickly go to another of Rio Grande City’s post players for an easy basket.
“Our goal was to stay packed in the 2-3 and then they went to that,” Mercedes head coach Santiago Rivas said. “Mike would come out and we knew we were undersized and they got a few easy baskets off that then with the lead they were able to pull us out of that zone. We knew Rio was good. Their big girls are good and they like to run an up-tempo and we were trying to keep the tempo down and pack it in.”
Rio Grande City, second to Sharyland Pioneer in District 31-5A with an 11-3 district record, improved to 23-8. Following Melanie Lopez’s 15 points was Emily Lopez’s 14 and Reyna’s 12.
RGC will play the winner of Corpus Christi Carroll and Laredo Cigarroa.