By EDWARD SEVERN, Staff Writer
East Valley girls basketball teams will begin their postseason journeys this week. The University Interscholastic League’s bi-district round will take place Monday and Tuesday.
In District 32-6A, the Harlingen High Lady Cardinals and Weslaco High Lady Panthers finished the season as co-district champions. Harlingen High defeated Weslaco High 67-47 in a seeding game Friday.
The Lady Cardinals’ win sets up a first-round meeting with La Joya High.
“Our team is ready to play our next opponent, and we continue to get better every day,” Lady Cardinals coach Ashley Moncivaiz said. “We have not reached our peak yet but hope to be playing our best basketball in the next few weeks as we make our run in the playoffs.”
Harlingen High is on a 10-game winning streak entering the playoffs.
Harlingen South came in third in the district. The Lady Hawks will face the Edinburg High Lady Bobcats.
“This season, the Lady Hawks worked extremely hard at getting better every day,” South coach Rebecca Littleton said. “The girls really bought into working hard, and we showed a lot of character fighting in our tough district.”
The Lady Hawks hung in there with Weslaco High and Harlingen High in the standings, and beat the Lady Panthers during the first round of district play.
“We came up short to our goal, which was getting a piece of that district championship, but we are now set on winning a bi-district title,” Littleton said. “This is a senior-led ball club, and I am confident the girls will show up to compete.”
The Los Fresnos Lady Falcons claimed the fourth seed in the district. The Lady Falcons will face Edinburg Vela, the champion of District 31-6A. The teams met earlier in the season in the BISD tournament championship game. Edinburg Vela’s big third quarter helped them see out a 51-31 win.
“It was an exciting and competitive season,” Lady Falcons coach Alex Lucio said. “I am proud of the improvements and growth. We feel confident going into the playoffs. District 32-6A is one of the toughest districts in the Valley. Going through the gauntlet prepared us for our playoff game.”
The Brownsville Veterans Memorial Lady Chargers went undefeated in District 32-5A. Under coach Arnold Torres Jr., Brownsville Veterans has claimed three straight district titles with only one loss in 32-5A play those three years.
“We have had to deal with injuries and illness this season, but that has helped us with depth. Because of that we feel ready for the playoffs,” Torres said.
The Lady Chargers outscored their opponents by an average of 30 points per night in district play. Their last loss was to a team in San Antonio, and the only losses to Rio Grande Valley teams came against Harlingen High and Weslaco High, both by eight points.
Brownsville Veterans was unlucky in the coin flip and will have to face Sharyland Pioneer at Pioneer.
Brownsville Pace claimed the third seed after winning a coin flip against Mercedes. The Lady Vikings will play the McAllen High Lady Bulldogs, second-place finishers in District 31-5A.
“Our team feels very proud of this season’s accomplishments,” Pace coach Eddie Lozano said. “A playoff berth is always the goal, and we are proud to have met one of our goals. Going into the playoffs, we feel like we are playing some of the best basketball of our season and we are looking to continue.”
Four East Valley teams made it out of District 32-4A. The Rio Hondo Lady Bobcats went undefeated to claim the district title.
The Lady Bobcats will square off with the Robstown, winners of a play-in game Friday night.
“We are excited, and we are confident,” Rio Hondo coach Victor Sauceda said. “We had played a lot of basketball to finish out district so we are a little fatigued, but I like where we are at. The girls are playing good basketball and are ready for the challenge.”
La Feria finished second in the district and will face Corpus Christi Calallen.
“I feel we have had a great season,” Lionettes coach Delia Lopez said. ‘We have had our ups and downs, but the girls have been working hard. They worked hard to get the job done.”
Lopez said the girls are ready.
“We hope to come out and play a good game against Calallen,” she said. “They are a great competitive team, and our girls should be able to give them a great game.”
The Raymondville Lady Bearkats next take on Kingsville King, and Port Isabel will square off with Corpus Christi Tuloso-Midway.
The Lyford Lady Bulldogs obliterated the competition in District 31-3A. They will play against Brownsville IDEA Frontier from District 32-3A.
Santa Rosa finished third in District 32-3A and will play Weslaco IDEA Pike, and Brownsville IDEA Riverview will face Donna IDEA.
Santa Maria finished third in District 32-2A. Three Rivers finished second in District 31-2A to set up the matchup with the Lady Cougars
San Perlita, out of District 32-1A, faces D’Hanis.
“The girls are feeling confident and fresh going into the playoffs,” San Perlita coach Marco Mungia said. “Our season prepared us for D’Hanis, and we are going in with one goal in mind and that is to win.”
The Brownsville St. Joseph Lady Bloodhounds, competing in TAPPS, will begin their playoff voyage later in the week or early in the following week.