Edinburg Vela’s team chemistry can be seen before the SaberCats, the District 31-6A leader at 23-6, 9-0, even take the floor.
As starters were announced before their crosstown rivalry game against Edinburg North on Tuesday at Edinburg Vela High School, Roland Rodriguez, the first player introduced, ran through a two-sided tunnel of teammates handing out low and high fives. Teammate Jaden Tovar stood at the end of the tunnel. After a smooth handshake between the two, Tovar pulled out his cell phone and took a quick team selfie. The photo, combined with a video capturing a rear view of the handshake line, turned into a short TikTok video of the pregame player intros.
The video has gone viral on TikTok, receiving more than 167,000 views and 21,000 likes as of Thursday evening.
@lil.pup2 fam 🖤 #fyp #greenscreenvideo #greenscreen ♬ original sound – donovan.prod
During their 80-49 win against Edinburg North, the pregame festivities turned into fourth-quarter fun as the reserves entered the game and saw some action with the game well in-hand.
As each non-starter scored, the starters and the rest of the Vela bench and home crowd stood and erupted, cheering them on.
“That’s the culture that we’ve built here at Vela,” head coach Lucio Rodriguez said. “They play for one another. They don’t play for themselves, and it showed today.”
The SaberCats have won 11 straight games and are looking to extend their streak with a road game against Edinburg High slated for 7:30 tonight at Edinburg High School.
STATE-RANKED
The latest Texas Association of Basketball Coaches UIL statewide rankings feature three Rio Grande Valley teams, all in Class 3A or lower.
District 32-3A leader Santa Rosa (15-10, 3-0) held on to the No. 20 spot at the Class 3A level after wins over Progreso (73-50) and Brownsville Harmony (103-33) last week. Meanwhile, District 31-3A rival North Mission IDEA (17-8, 12-0) remained at No. 21 with a pair of 90-point outings during victories against Weslaco IDEA Pike and Edinburg IDEA Quest.
San Perlita (17-8, 0-1) is Class 1A’s No. 6-ranked team despite not playing a game last week due to COVID-19 concerns. The Trojans dropped a District 32-1A game against No. 4 McMullen County on Tuesday and return to action against San Isidro at 7:30 tonight.
RGVSPORTS TOP 10
The top six spots in the RGVSports.com top 10 boys basketball poll remained the same with Brownsville Pace leading the pack. Two new teams entered the latest ranks.
After losses by last week’s No. 7 Edinburg North and No. 10 San Perlita caused them to drop out of the top 10, McAllen Memorial and Port Isabel, respectively, have taken their spots.
The No. 7 Mustangs (16-10, 6-0) continued their hot streak with wins over Valley View and McAllen Rowe to remain atop the District 31-5A standings.
No. 10 Port Isabel, the defending District 32-4A champ, appears to be the team to beat once again with a 2-0 mark early in league play.
THE RGVSPORTS.COM
BOYS BASKETBALL TOP 10
Team Records Prv.
1. Brownsville Pace 25-4, 6-0 1
2. Brownsville St. Joseph 23-4, 2-0 2
3. McAllen High 22-7, 5-1 3
4. Edinburg Vela 23-6, 9-0 4
5. Harlingen High 15-9, 5-1 5
6. Weslaco High 19-9, 5-1 6
7. McAllen Memorial 16-10, 6-0 NR
8. Santa Rosa 15-10, 3-0 8
9. North Mission IDEA 17-8, 12-0 9
10. Port Isabel 2-0 NR
GAMES TO WATCH
Tonight’s games to watch feature matchups between teams jockeying for playoff positioning.
A rivalry game between Edcouch-Elsa and Mercedes is always a marquee matchup, but especially this year with both teams in the playoff picture. The Yellow Jackets (18-10, 5-1) are in sole possession of second place in 32-5A, while Mercedes is in a four-way tie for third with a 3-3 district record along with Brownsville Veterans, Donna High and Weslaco East. Tipoff is slated for 7:30 p.m. at Mercedes High School.
In 30-5A, Roma is tied with Laredo Martin for the district lead at 2-0 and will look to keep their perfect league record intact with a road trip to take on La Joya Palmview at 7:30 p.m. at Palmview High School.
District 32-6A title contender Weslaco High (19-9, 5-1) is set to take on playoff hopeful Brownsville Rivera at 7:30 p.m. at Rivera High School.