Macedonian Christian Academy was mired with a 4-8 record and was just beaten badly twice by Harvest Christian Academy when they held a team meeting.
“The girls were demoralized. We had a three- or four-game losing streak and we talked about what we needed to do moving forward,” third-year head coach James Mendoza said. “We decided that to matter what happens, we said we would play for each other and they did that.”
Switching up their defense helped a bit, too.
Since then, the Lions have ripped off a five-game winning streak, including their first two playoff games, to set up their TAPPS 2A state quarterfinals matchup at 4:30 p.m. today against Hallettsville Sacred Heart at Annapolis Christian School in Corpus Christi.
“God has been good to us,” Mendoza said. “In spite of the COVID stuff we had to work through, stopping for three or four weeks because of COVID, but we fought through it all.”
Mendoza switched up his defensive schemes since then, going to a box-and-one or a triangle-and-two depending on who they need to stop from the opposition. During Tuesday’s win over Allen Academy, they clamped down on the leading scorer, giving up seven points while she usually averages close to 18 points per game.
Leading that defensive change and charge has been senior Julia Mendoza and her sister, sophomore Naomi Mendoza.
“The team just started playing hard-nosed defense and we started playing different schemes and that’s what we focused on,” Mendoza said. “Those schemes have been yielding results for us.”
Senior Delina Overfield, a point guard, averages 17 points, 1.9 assists and 2.9 steals per game. Julia Mendoza averages 6.8 points and 6.2 rebounds along with 2.9 blocks per contest. Kierston Curling, the team’s other senior, contributes 8.4 points, 5.8 rebounds and 2.1 steals per tilt.
“The new defense kicked it all off but then the offense started kicking in. You know, sometimes the shots aren’t going to fall but you can always play tough defense,” Mendoza said. “Those seniors are the heart and soul of the team. They’ve been playing since eighth grade.
“They are peaking at the right moment.”
Mendoza said Sacred Heart will have a height advantage and rebounding advantage, as well. He’s hoping his squad can box out and use their quickness and defense to move them into the state semifinals against the winner of Shiner St. Paul and district foe Harvest Christian Academy, the last team they lost to before starting their winning streak.
“Harvest is a great team and having two teams from the Valley is great,” Mendoza said. “If they can win and if we can win, having two Valley teams in the final four would just be outstanding.”