McALLEN — In the midst of the playoff push with the regular season coming to a close, several playoff spots and district championships are still up for grabs throughout the Rio Grande Valley.
That means Tuesday, the regular season finale for all Valley girls basketball teams, will go a long way toward sorting out playoff teams and seedings and should feature a few win-or-go-home games, too.
One of the tighter playoff races throughout the RGV has been unfolding for a few weeks now in District 30-6A. The McAllen High Bulldogs and McAllen Rowe Warriors are scrapping it out for the fourth and final postseason spot in this district, but the Warriors recently seized the lead in this race.
Rowe earned a 10-point road win over PSJA High on Friday, while McHi dropped a home game to district champion McAllen Memorial. Those results broke a tie for fourth and moved the Warriors one game ahead of the Bulldogs with one game to play.
“This group is a little special. I have four seniors, one of whom unfortunately went down with an ACL (injury),” McHi head coach Stephanie Cantu said. “For this group because they’re so young and the seniors, they’ve got to play for each other and what’s on their uniform. I would love for them to know that all of their hard work, heart and hustle paid off in the end and we got in.”
McHi will host PSJA High at 6 p.m. Tuesday and Rowe will take on Mission High in McAllen at the same time. The Bulldogs would need to win and hope the Warriors lose in order to force a tiebreaker play-in game.
FIVE 32-5A SQUADS SQUARE OFF FOR THREE SPOTS
No district looks more uncertain late in the season than 32-5A. Brownsville Veterans has already clinched an outright district title, but it’s also the only school so far to clinch a playoff berth.
That leaves five teams competing for just three playoff spots, with second and sixth place separated by just one game.
Edcouch-Elsa, Mercedes and Valley View are locked in a three-way tie for second place with 7-6 district records, while Brownsville Pace and Donna High sit just one game behind. In all likelihood, all teams must win to fully guarantee their place in the postseason.
Mercedes will host Brownsville Lopez at 6 p.m. Tuesday, while Edcouch-Elsa will travel to Brownsville Vets and Pace will visit Porter at the same time Tuesday.
Donna High will face off against Valley View on the road, which will be a true win-or-go-home contest for the Bravettes and could be the difference between hosting and traveling to a first round playoff game for the Tigers.
BOBCATS, PANTHERS HEAD TOWARD SECOND STRAIGHT TIEBREAKER
The Edinburg High Bobcats and Weslaco High Panthers, the No. 1- and No. 2-ranked teams in The Monitor’s High School Girls Basketball Top 10 poll, look to be headed toward a second straight tiebreaker to determine the 31-6A district champion.
The Bobcats and Panthers played a tiebreaker game at the end of the regular season last year after the two teams only lost one district game each to one another. Edinburg High won the tiebreaker game last year for the district’s top seed in the playoffs.
Both teams have tallied 10-1 district records with losses only to each other. The Panthers won by one point at Edinburg High, while the Bobcats exacted revenge with a 20-point victory at Weslaco High.
Edinburg High will wrap up its season on the road to face Donna North at 6 p.m. Tuesday, while Weslaco High will host Edinburg North at the same time. The Bobcats and the Panthers will play a tiebreaker, likely on Friday or Saturday, should both teams win or lose Tuesday.