DONNA — Ayloni Garcia danced with the ball at her feet, similar to how a puppeteer commands a marionette.

She danced one way, then crossed over another while in the penalty box. She shook off one defender, glimpsed an opening in some space and rocketed a shot that glanced off a second defender and into the goal as McAllen Rowe won a thrilling 2-1 Class 5A bi-district playoff game over Harlingen South on Thursday at Bennie La Prade Stadium in Donna.

It was Garcia’s second goal during a game in which Harlingen South not only showed great team speed but also played the final 60 minutes down a player due to a red card.

Garcia took a long lead pass from Camila Gil and streaked toward the goal with two defenders sticking tight to her. South not only marked Garcia all over the field for the entire match, but also had their middle back roaming on her side to try and slow the scoring phenom.

“I took the pass, what a beautiful pass from Camila, and just tried to do a move,” said Garcia, who scored 40 goals during district play. “Something came out, I took a shot, got a lucky bounce and thank God it went in.”

The Warriors, who squeezed into the playoffs on the final day of the regular season, trailed 1-0 on a shot that took a high bounce from Damaris Solis with 9:15 remaining in the first half.

“We knew she was their player when they needed to win,” We tried to shut them down the best we can. But we played with a lot of heart,” head coach Debra Galvan said. “Speed is always a threat, and we utilized them really well. We have track stars on our team. I’m so proud of them being down 60 minutes and still got some shots.”

Garcia also scored the first goal. Bella Hernandez made a perfect throw-in that took a high bounce with Garcia in a perfect position between two defenders.

“It was a perfect throw-in over the top, and Ayloni did her thing,” Rowe head coach John Martinez said. “That’s why she’s one of the best in the state. She’s phenomenal getting by people. She created that.”

“I saw the defenders watching the ball and others were yelling, ‘offsides’ but I wasn’t,” Garcia said. “And I timed it perfectly.”

Rowe will play Corpus Christi Flour Bluff in the next round after it defeated Laredo Nixon 4-3 on Thursday.

“They were a completely different team from what we saw earlier this year,” Martinez said. “They changed up their defensive game plan, and it frustrated us . They adjusted to what we do, and I like to think we adjusted to what they did, too.”

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John Martinez woke up last Monday feeling that something would be in his team’s favor that day.

Besieged by injuries much of the season, McAllen Rowe was on the outside looking uphill at a shot at the playoffs.

“We told the girls that something would be in our favor, that something would go our way,” the 10th-year Rowe head coach said. “I don’t want to say we thought we were done. Our girls believed we were playing for something.”

Their final regular season game came against PSJA North. They needed a win and for Sharyland Pioneer to upset fourth-place Sharyland High. Midway through the game against North with a victory nearly in hand, word came: Pioneer did it.

“Sure enough, it became our favor,” Martinez said.

Now the Warriors face District 32-5A champion Harlingen South at 7 p.m. Thursday at Donna High stadium. Contrarily, the Hawks are a team that breezed to the championship with a 15-1-2 record during district play. They scored 74 goals in those 18 games and allowed just nine.

In other matchups between Districts 31-5A and 32-5A, eight-time defending District 31-5A champion McAllen High plays at home against Donna North (6 p.m. Friday), McAllen Memorial travels to Brownsville Porter (7 p.m. Friday) and Edinburg Vela hosts Brownsville Veterans (7 p.m. Friday). District 30-5A’s Mission Veterans will host Gregory-Portland (6 p.m., Thursday), Corpus Christi Flour Bluff will play Laredo Nixon at San Antonio Southside (6 p.m., Thursday), Laredo Martin will play Victoria West, also at Southside (8 p.m. Thursday) and La Joya Juarez-Lincoln will play Corpus Christi Veterans Memorial at Cabaniss Stadium in Corpus (7 p.m. Friday).

Check out the full girls soccer bi-district playoff schedule here!

Rowe and South faced each other in a non-district matchup early in the season, Rowe winning 6-2. However, that was 18 grueling matches, 100 position changes and dozens of injuries and recoveries ago.

“We have built up our team a lot from when we started,” Harlingen South head coach Debra Galvan said. “Of course, teams get better as they go throughout the season.”

Both teams are offensively lethal. Harlingen South is led by twin sisters Alexis and Aliyah Fonseca with 17 and 10 goals apiece. Their leading scorer is Damaris Solis with 19 goals during district play. With tons of team speed, the Hawks like to control possession and use that speed efficiently.

Rowe is more like a chameleon of playing styles. They may run or they may be physical — it’s usually a mixture of both. Ayloni Garcia scored 40 district goals and missed three district games. Her speed and tenacious ball skills usually means she’s the most dangerous player on the field. She also tallied 28 assists. Camila Gil and Mia Mata combined for 36 goals, 21 and 15, respectively, and 48 assists, 36 and 12. They are deadly from deep and on set plays.

“We know what they have, a lot of powerful legs,” Galvan said. “We want to keep the ball from their feet, keep possession as much as we can and utilize our forwards as necessary. The team that makes the fewer mistakes will come out victorious.”

Despite being a No. 4 seed, Martinez said the rigorous schedule of District 31-5A — a district that added powerhouse Edinburg Vela and a solid PSJA North team to the schedule — more than likely helped the team prepare for the postseason, and a meeting with a No. 1 seed right off the bat.

“Every game was with a tough opponent, there were no breaks and it was draining,” Martinez said. “And a lot of our upper-class girls have been in this position before. This is it. Win or go home. South has a lot of team speed, and I’ve been preaching all week that speed kills in any sport.

“Physically, we have some tough girls who won’t shy away — they have some physical girls, too. It’s a heavyweight matchup. We’ll do our thing and see what they throw at us.”

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The Valley’s three girls Class 4A district champions have at least one thing in common as the UIL playoffs begin.

Hidalgo, Raymondville and Riverview each have a prolific scorer that, at a moment’s notice, can unleash a reign of terror upon opponents. Jayline Garcia (Hidalgo), Elizabeth Torres (Raymondville) Mia Ramos (Riverview) have combined for 107 goals in their respective districts throughout the season.

Hidalgo, the 30-4A champs, opens play at 6 p.m. Thursday at Alice. Meanwhile, 31-4A victors Riverview will play at 6:30 p.m. Thursday against IDEA Edinburg at the IDEA Sports Park in Brownsville. Raymondville, the 32-4A champions, host Rio Hondo at 7 p.m. Thursday.

The Monitor’s All-Area Offensive Player of the Year a year ago, Garcia, a junior, led the Valley for the second straight season in scoring, blasting 46 goals (she missed one game while another was forfeited to Hidalgo) as the Pirates went undefeated en route to their seventh district title in program history. IDEA North Mission’s Melany Rubio was also a big scorer for the second-place district squad, seventh in the Valley with 32 district goals.

Since the playoffs last year, two distinctive events changed the Pirates’ approach to games this season. First was a blistering loss to Corpus Christi Calallen last year in the playoffs. Second was a game against IDEA North Mission, without Garcia, that the Pirates won. There would be no sitting back and watching her tip-toe around – or through — the defenses for that critical battle for first place.

Check out the bi-district playoff schedule here!

“We wanted to change that,” Hidalgo head coach Francisco Alday said about the rest of the team letting Garcia do all the work. “The girls learned that they can do great things. When we faced North Mission, they knew they needed to push is a little harder and they did.”

Bavina Estrada and teammate Frida Salazar scored 12 and 10 goals, respectively, during district play and their development along with Garcia’s offensive wizardry gives the Pirates multiple options offensively.

“Just Jayline along gives you options,” Alday said. “She attracts a lot of defenses to her side. Teams have even tried to triple team her. But now we have speed on both sides. We learned a lot against Calallen (last year) that we need everybody to put a lot of themselves into those types of games and help keep the pressure of Jayline especially if we are trying to make it to the regional tournament.

“Some teams will hunker down on defense against Jayline, but now we have more options and we use them.”

Who were the Valley’s top scorers? The list is here!

Torres is not just Raymondville’s top scorer with 33 district goals, but she’s also the leader in assists.

“When we saw her as a freshman, we put her in right away as striker,” head coach Alex Delgado said. “She’s unbelievable. She can do it on her own and she can get her teammates involved as well.”

Delgado is in his fourth year at the helm of the Bearkats, who captured their first district title in program history following a pair of No. 3 seeds the past two seasons.

“A scorer like her is one of the best weapons you could have. We have trust in this girl who can do it against any defense, She puts opponents on notice. You have to fear this girl because she will put goals on you,” Delgado said. “She can break down defenses, pass into the open lanes and you can put whatever on her coattails and she’s spectacular.”

Ball control and defense have been keys for the Bearkats. The team has allowed just eight goals all season.

“In order to be relevant we need to have a strong defense, but offensively we have a lot of weapons. If you double team her, she’ll find someone. You just have to pick your poison.”

Torres finished with 33 goals during district play.

Delgado said the team is “totally different” this year in their approach to the playoffs, against longtime rival Rio Hondo.

“You can see the difference between this year and last year, when we thought we had an opportunity to take to next step but we were nervous,” Delgado said. “It’s totally different this year – you can see it see it in Liz and all the girls. We know we are prepared and know what it takes.

“The girls are also excited about it being against a big rival Rio Hondo. We’re ready.”

Ramos, a senior, has 105 goals during her illustrious career, limited by COVID-19 during her sophomore year when she scored 10 goals.

Boys and girls head coach Rodolfo Rodriguez added the girls coaching job this season. The Rockets were undefeated in district play for the second straight year, reaching the playoffs for the first time last season. They defeated Lyford 12-0 in the bi-district round before falling to Santa Gertrudis in the area round.

“It’s great having such a prolific scorer on the team,” Rodriguez said. “Knowing you have a player that can make such a huge difference on the field is an advantage that any coach wished they had.”

Rodriguez said last year’s experience is something the team will carry over to this playoff season.

“I think the girls are much more prepared this year than they were last year,” Rodriguez said. “They were star struck and that caused some mistakes and mindsets have been now worked with to be prepared to deal with all sorts of challenges we get.”

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McALLEN — Consistency was key for McAllen Memorial’s Esteban Gonzalez and the Mustangs on Saturday.

Gonzalez, a senior, blistered Champion Lakes Golf Course with his second straight 4-under-par 68 to win medalist honors and, as a team, Memorial came back from a six-stroke deficit to capture the team title at the Class 5A Regional Preview golf tournament. The tournament is a warmup leading to district and regional events beginning at the end of March.

Alamo Heights won the girls division behind medalist Julia Vollmer’s two-day 146. The team finished with a 305-313–618 total to outdistance Corpus Christi Veterans (632) and Boerne Champion (632).

Smithson Valley’s boys held the team lead after the first round and finished second after a 297-310–607 total. Memorial shot 303-300–603 to capture the team title. Gonzalez’s rounds, 68-68-136, were the only two rounds under par for the event. Smithson Valley’s Cole Cantu’s 73-74-147 placed him second and teammate Anniston McIlwain took third with a72-76-148.

Gonzalez leads all Valley boys with a 72.42 going into the weekend, more than 3.5 strokes ahead of second place. As a team, Memorial is averaging a Valley best 307.92 strokes per round, more than 15 strokes better than second place. The Mustangs’ “B” team averages 332.22, good enough four fourth across the Valley.

Dylan Villarreal finished fourth with a 78-75-153 for the Mustangs. Ryan Avila shot a 79-78-157 and was followed by Maverick Erickson (158) and Daniel Garza (159) for Memorial.

EDINBURG — Jarrett Culver scored 41 points and fan favorite Trhae Mitchell electrified the crowd down the stretch with a huge 3-pointer and dunk as the RGV Vipers claimed an intense 128-117 win over the Iowa Wolves on Thursday at Bert Ogden Arena.

The win is the fourth straight for the Vipers (14-12), who moved into a tie for the sixth and final playoff position. It is also the fourth of five games against teams with a sub-.500 record. Iowa (8-18) and RGV play again at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Bert Ogden.

The teams were tied at 109 before the Vipers closed the game with an impressive and electrifying 19-8 run. Before that run, the teams tied 13 times and exchanged the lead 20 times.

It was 117-114 when Culver knocked down his third 3-pointer of the evening and shot 16-of-19 from the floor overall. After that basket, the dam burst open. Darius Days made it 122-114, and Mitchell followed with a dunk that brought the crowd loudly into the game. Culver scored two more times to put the game away.

“I don’t say this enough, but I need to thank our fans tonight — they were great,” head coach Kevin Burleson said. “At one point I heard them yelling and looked up to see who was yelling. That lifted our players and really got us playing.

“And ‘Honest’ (Mitchell) is always a catalyst and ignites us. He makes certain plays and got us going. And I’ll tell everyone he’s also the best defender in the world. We can put him on anyone and just not worry about it.”

Days finished with 28 points and 11 rebounds while TyTy Washington Jr. scored a triple double with 12 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists despite shooting just 6-of-24 from the floor.

Culver was hot from the beginning of the game, coming off the bench for nearly 34 minutes of playing time. In the end, RGV outscored Iowa 34-18 in the fourth quarter.

The Minnesota Timberwolves reassigned Luka Garza and Matt Ryan to Iowa prior to Thursday’s game, bolstering its offensive presence. Garza is averaging 30.3 points, 9.7 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game in 11 games with the Wolves. Ryan is averaging 26.0 points and 3.5 assists in two games with Iowa. Both shoot better than 45% from 3-point land.

Garza, true to form, finished the night with 29 points and nine rebounds on 13-of-22 shooting. Ryan was just 4-of-14 and was the recipient of plenty of fan yelling, even turning back once in the fourth quarter to say something to a fan along the sideline after having a foul called on him.

The Vipers contracted the turnover bug early on, losing the ball six times during the first 6:30 of the first quarter that resulted in seven Iowa points. Their 58.3% shooting from the floor, however, kept the game tied at 18 early and at 35 after one quarter. Craig Randall paced the Wolves with 18 first-quarter points and 31 for the game.

“We knew it was going to be a high-scoring game,” Burleson said. “They have a lot of firepower with Luka and Ryan and Randall and some others. There are things we can do with Luka, I think, to maybe slow him down a little, but he’s going to score. Maybe we can do some things to slow him down a little and negate some of that.”

There were four technical fouls called in the game, two for each team as they both continue to fight for playoff position even though Iowa needs to win out and have plenty of help, especially after the loss.

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EDINBURG — Darius Days led all scorers with 26 points, Jalen Lecque scored 20 and the RGV Vipers won their third straight game, 116-110, over Greensboro on Wednesday at Bert Ogden Arena.

The win is especially important, the game being the third of five straight against sub .500 opponents and the Vipers looking to get back in playoff position.

The win moved the Vipers into seventh place, tied with Ontario, with a 13-12 record. They are one game behind sixth-place Sioux Falls for the sixth and final playoff position.

“It was ugly,” Vipers head coach Kevin Burleson said. “I think Greensboro made it ugly, plus it’s always interesting when you have players coming down the day of (a game) and try to fit in with the group right away.”

The Houston Rockets, the NBA parent team of the Vipers, reassigned TyTy Washington to the Vipers this morning and the guard was in uniform and played 36 minutes. He scored 14 points, one of seven Vipers to reach double figures, but also turned the ball over a game-high seven times.

“He is such a talented player we were still trying to figure out how to play together at the beginning of the game,” Burleson said. “But we made the plays to win the game.”

In the past week, the Rockets have sent Washington, Days and Hudgins back to the Vipers. Nobody could say how long they could be with RGV, but their presence made a difference during the first three games of the sub-.500 games.

The Vipers turned the ball over 20 times, several coming down the stretch as they looked to put Greensboro away and the Swarm pressed them.

“That’s way too many turnovers. We just got sloppy with the ball at times,” Days said, who also pulled down 10 rebounds. “If we turn it over five or six times less then it’s a different ballgame.”

Jarrett Culver also collected a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds.

The Vipers return to action at 7 p.m. today at home against the Iowa Wolves for the first of two home contests. The second one will be at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.

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McALLEN — As Abby Rocha signed Wednesday to play soccer for Schreiner University, the moment was more about the long, arduous journey than the destination.

And she was thrilled with the destination, especially considering she watched her team this season from the sidelines, recovering from a knee injury. An injury that reoccurred time and again and she would play through. An injury, she was told, that would most likely continue to haunt her until something permanent was done.

Her story is so much more than a high school athlete earning the chance to follow her dream and play at the next level. It’s a story about not giving up, about making tough decisions, giving up the short-term satisfaction for long-term gratification. It’s about teary-eyed days and nights worrying.

It’s a Cinderella story for everyone at any age who wants to pursue a dream.

On Tuesday, all those days and nights became real as she put pen to paper inside the Rowe gym with family, coaches, friends and more looking on. Many of those were integral in Rocha’s determination, her belief, to have this day come.

“When some coaches heard I had been injured, they would tell me they needed to see me in person,” she said. “But coach (Melanie Chandler) believed in me and I believed in myself.

“I’ve wanted to play at the next level since I was, like, 4.”

Rocha transferred to Rowe in 2020. Ironically, Rowe head coach John Martinez said when he first met Rocha, she was on crutches.

“She was a special talent,” he said. “You could see that right away.”

As a sophomore, she scored 11 goals and had seven assists. She erupted as a junior, scoring 21 goals and showing a deft touch with 14 assists. She was named second-team all district and second team All-Area.

Later, she was a part of the local Dynamo team that made it to the age group’s national tournament. And was injured again.

“I can’t tell you how many times we had tear-filled conversations,” Martinez said. “She was worried about letting me down, letting her team down, and I told her that wasn’t going to happen. She wasn’t letting anyone down.

“This was about her future. She is a warrior, and great things are going to happen for her at that next level.”

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McALLEN – Savannah Ruiz put her golden foot — well, her left-golden foot — to work again and Jenna Cantu played one of the more stellar performances in goal as McAllen High defeated a powerful Edinburg Vela squad 1-0 on Tuesday at McAllen Memorial Veterans Stadium.

McHi improved to 15-1-0, while Vela dropped to 11-4-1. It was the 15th straight win for the Bulldogs, who all but mathematically clinched the District 31-5A title, their eighth straight. They officially need one point between their next two games – at Sharyland High (11-5-0) on Friday and Valley View (0-15-1) on Tuesday.

Ruiz, a junior, has scored big goals all season for the Bulldogs on Tuesday was no different. Following a Vela save off a Julianna Millin blast, another shot ricocheted and there was Ruiz, knocking it in with her left foot with 12:16 remaining in the game. She’s usually firing and passing with her right foot, making that goal more impressive. She’s the all-time leader in assists at McHi but also has shown she can be in the right place to put the ball away as well.

“I knew Jules was going to get a cross off and I wanted us to score a goal so bad,” Ruiz said. “Miranda took a shot, then I shot it, the keeper deflected it and I put it in.

“We knew we would have to work hard and fight against this time and figure out a way to maneuver our positions.”

Cantu, a sophomore with fewer than 10 starts in goal, was stubbornly defiant, deflecting shots, diving for others and seemingly always in the right place. One time she got caught outside of the net but Vela missed the open goal. Vela had scored 100 goals this season, averaging nearly seven scores per district match.

“This is my second year playing soccer,” Cantu said. “I felt amazing today and had that mindset ball or nothing and I played with all I had. They are a great team and in practice we have been working on our fast reflexes and I gave it all I had.”

It was an extremely fast-paced game of streaks and runs with two of the fastest and most offensive-minded teams in South Texas. Undoubtedly, both teams will watch film and pinpoint several missed opportunities – coulda’, shoulda’, woulda’ shots – throughout both halves. Near the end of the game, one coach told the players the game could easily be 3-3 at that point. Emma Lopez made a huge stop in goal backing up Cantu when Vela fired from point-blank range during a barrage of shots, blocking the attempt with her body on what would have been a sure goal.

“I can’t begin to say how proud I am of my girls,” McHi head coach Pat Arney said. “Vela is a great team with a lot of great players and speed but we’ve been saying since the beginning of the year that girls would need to step up. They’ve done that.”

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ELSA — Harlingen South scored twice during the game’s first 20 minutes and dominated time of possession on the way to a 5-1 win over Edcouch-Elsa in District 32-5A girls soccer Friday at Benny Layton Memorial Stadium.

Harlingen South improves to 11-0-2 to remain atop the district and inches closer to a 32-5A title with a five-point lead over second-place Donna North with five matches remaining in the regular season. The Hawks can go from a step to a leap toward that title Monday when they play Donna North on Tuesday and follow that with a Friday game against third-place Brownsville Porter. Both games will be played at Harlingen South.

Those matches also mean something to Edcouch-Elsa with a 7-4-2 record and 23 points, four behind Brownsville Veterans for the fourth and final playoff position. The Yellow Jackets have games against Porter, Brownsville Lopez, Donna High, Weslaco East and a regular-season finale against Brownsville Veterans.

Aliyah Fonseca scored a little more than three minutes into the contest, and teammate Kayren Vasquez scored on a rebound that rolled in front of the goal for what seemed like an eternity to make it 2-0 with 21:50 remaining in the half.

“It was a good start and we needed to score against the wind. We needed to attack and win every 50-50 ball,” first-year head coach Debra Galvan said. “Same thing happened last time where we were winning at the half and they came back and scored, so we had to continue to press them.”

They did just that, scoring twice during the first eight minutes of the second half to pull out to a 4-0 advantage. Alexis Fonseca scored twice in the second half, and Sereniti Adams also found the back of the net for the Hawks.

Galvan said that the Fonseca twins have been a devastating duo since they have both been moved around positionally.

“We like the way they connect,” Galvan said. “They own the position and, no matter what, they are playing their hardest the entire game.”

While the Hawks controlled the ball for maybe 75% of the time, they also showed they could mix it up with long counter passes to their speedy offensive players up front.

“We tried to win the 50-50s, and when we were able to stop them we would counter quickly,” Galvan said. “That would move the ball forward, and they had to play defense a lot.”

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When McAllen Rowe girls soccer head coach John Martinez met Ayloni Garcia, the then-freshman was playing for a different high school.

“We won 5-2 and marked Ayloni with our best defender, who went on to play college,” Martinez said. “Ayloni scored both goals against us. That was the first time I saw what she could produce on the field and knew she was very special.”

Garcia transferred to Rowe after that season, having to sit out the UIL-mandatory 365 days and missing her sophomore campaign.

“It hurt a lot,” she said. “I played soccer my entire life, and not playing a full year hurt me. It drained a lot out of me and took the best out of me. Then I was, like, ‘I’ve got two more years to give it my all,’ and I’ve been balling out ever since.”

She extended her explosive, balling-out career Wednesday at the McAllen Rowe gym in front of family, friends, coaches and others, signing her National Letter of Intent to continue her athletic and academic career at UTRGV, an NCAA Division 1 program that competes in the Western Athletic Conference.

Garcia has been nothing but clutch for the Warriors and instant offense. Her technical skills are as good, or maybe better, than any player in the Valley. She scored 28 goals her freshman year en route to being named The Monitor’s All-Area Newcomer of the Year. After sitting out her sophomore year, she returned like a shooting star, scoring 35 goals and dishing out 19 assists while being named team MVP and to the all-area first team.

She’s only expanded her skill sets and ability to score at will this year. Just a little past the midway point of district play, Garcia has 38 goals (23 in district) and 21 assists. Despite popping her hamstring a week ago, she walked up to Martinez during a game against PSJA Memorial in which the Warriors were having difficulties getting on the scoreboard.

“She walked up to me and said I’m going in,” Martinez recalled. “A minute later, she scored.”

Garcia said choosing UTRGV was simple. She knew that was her school during her visit.

“Ever since I got to know some of the girls, the connection we had on and off the field was something you dream about,” she said. “I just fell in love with it. Once I visited, I knew this was the school. And my family will be close so they can go and support me like they always have.”

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