The Weslaco High Panthers defeated Donna North 72-45 on Monday to lock up the District 32-6A championship on their home floor.
The win sent the Panthers, ranked No. 1 in the latest boys basketball poll by The Monitor, to 19-3 overall and 12-1 in 32-6A action.
After spending the previous two years in District 31-6A due to UIL realignment, the Panthers returned to 32-6A this season and nearly ran the table on their way to the district title. Weslaco High winning the district championship also ends a run of six consecutive 32-6A titles won by Los Fresnos.
Leading the way for Weslaco this season has been a core four of Panthers. Weslaco has two players averaging double-doubles this season in big-man Vince Peralez (20.4 points per game, 11.3 rebounds) and Juan Galindo (11.1 points, 11.7 rebounds). Running the show at the guard spots are Andrew Olmeda (15.6 points, 3.4 steals) and Leonard Smith, who leads the Rio Grande Valley with 7.7 assists per game, while also scoring 10.3 per outing.
The Panthers have won 11 straight games heading into Friday’s regular-season finale against Brownsville Rivera. That game is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. at Rivera High School.
LIGHTING UP THE SCOREBOARD
With the regular season winding down, several scorers across the Rio Grande Valley have been upping their game to make their final push towards the playoffs.
McAllen Rowe’s Darren Manriquez has been amongst the best as the sophomore guard recently ripped off a string of five 30-point games in a row to lead the Warriors in District 31-5A action.
Manriquez scored 32 against McAllen Memorial, 31 against McAllen High, 38 against PSJA Memorial and put up 36 and 32 twice against Valley View in a span of two weeks. The Rowe guard is averaging 21.3 points, 4.7 assists and leads the RGV with 5.1 steals per game.
DE LA GARZA RETURNS FOR RAIDERS
PSJA North guard Elijah De La Garza suffered an injury to his non-shooting hand, which kept him off the court for two weeks.
Since returning to the floor on Feb. 2, De La Garza has made up for the lost time with back-to-back 30-plus point games. The Raiders’ senior hit 10-of-19 field goal attempts to score 34 in a 65-50 win over Mission High, and followed it up with a 32-point performance against Edinburg Vela in a 61-47 win.
De La Garza is averaging 26.2 points, 4.7 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 2.1 steals per game this season. PSJA North is 13-8 overall, 11-5 in District 31-6A, and has punched its ticket to the postseason.
PACE TAKES 32-5A
Brownsville Pace was crowned the District 32-5A champion Monday after a home victory over Mercedes. The Vikings improved to 12-0 in district play with games against playoff hopeful Edcouch-Elsa (12-9, 7-5) and the No. 2 seed in 32-5A, Donna High (12-7, 10-3).
Donna’s Monday win over Brownsville Lopez locked the team into the No. 2 seed in 32-5A. Senior point guard Eddy Epperson also reached the 1,000-point scoring mark for his career by dropping 20 against the Lobos. Epperson is leading Donna in points at 17.1, assists at 4.6, and steals at 4.1 per game.
A LOOK AT 31-3A
North Mission IDEA (18-3, 16-0) is two games away from completing a perfect run through District 31-3A entering the final week of the regular season.
The Warriors, who are in their first year competing at the UIL level as a program, locked up the District 31-3A championship by beating Monte Alto on Feb. 2 59-52.
In order to finish unbeaten in district play, North Mission will have to get by Edinburg IDEA at 7:30 tonight, before turning its attention back to Monte Alto (12-3, 11-3).
As for the Blue Devils, they are back in the playoffs for the first time in five years. A win by Monte Alto tonight would secure the No. 2 seed in District 31-3A.