KEVIN NARRO | Valley Morning Star

LYFORD — “Leave it better than you found it.” That is the motto the Lyford Lady Bulldogs live by and it’s one that coach Joey Rios has in-stilled in his players and in his third year at the helm, Rios has the Lady Dogs believing.

In 2017, Lyford reached new heights by not only rolling through district with a perfect record but reaching the third round of the playoffs.

“The kids are very excited to hit the field,” Rios said. “The kids are learning how to hold each other accountable and that’s helping me out. The older girls are taking charge and running the hitting stations. Last year’s success motivates the younger girls. We kept our motto the same and the girls want to go out there and get it done.”

This season Lyford has five returning starters including seniors Evelyn Ortiz and Serena Rodriguez. Ortiz will take the circle and serve as the team’s ace.

“It has hit me that this is my senior year,” Rodriguez said. “I think about next year and how everything will be different for me. As a senior I know what is expected and I know how things run. I help teach the younger girls the drills and certain techniques. Every year we learn some-thing new so I do my best to show them the way. At first base I also show them how to play the position.”

Rodriguez will team up with sophomore Jerrica Rojas on the corners of the infield. Rodriguez will play first while Rojas will occupy third base. Rojas, who was named the Valley Morning Star’s 2017 Newcomer of the Year, is poised to have a strong season.

“I’m excited and ready for this year,” she said. “I feel like a sophomore, because of how much experience I have, but when I step on the field I feel like a senior. I feel confident every time I step on the field. Over the offseason I worked on my hitting and I also worked on my pitching. I worked on my spin and worked on some pitching.”

Lyford has a strong group of sophomores that are expected to have a role this season. Rojas leads the group of sophomores as she will also step in the circle with Ortiz creating a solid 1-2 punch. Jessica Cruz will play catcher this season and has good chemistry with both Rojas and Ortiz.

This season, freshman Hannah Garza is turning heads through the first few weeks of the preseason. The steady hand and speed from Garza has the youngster thriving at the shortstop position and as a leadoff batter.

“Our defense this year is going to be strong and we have a lot of team speed,” Rios said. “We ran the bases well last week and that’s some-thing I will be relying on. I have a few seniors back who know how to lead and they have been in big games. A lot of my juniors and sophomores have also been in big games so they know how to lead as well. The kids understand what is at stake and the upperclassmen hold the younger girls accountable.”

KEVIN NARRO | Valley Morning Star

The train continues to roll for the San Perlita Trojans. After an emotional win against Santa Maria on Tuesday, the Trojans picked up a 67-59 win against La Villa on Friday.

Victor Galvan led the way with 23 points while Noah Olivarez finished with 10.

With the victory the Trojans improved to 7-0 and won the 32-2A title. San Perlita will now shift its focus to San Isidro on Tuesday with tipoff slated for 7:30 p.m.

Winning the league crown is a first for three-year Trojans coach Nataniel Garza. The Trojans overcame a rough non-district schedule and have played flawless basketball throughout the conference season.

“I’m very proud of these kids,” Garza said. “They have worked hard all year and winning a district title is something we have all talked about. We’re excited to win a district title, but we also have a goal to make a deep playoff run. I am proud to be coaching this group and I could not have asked for a better group of kids.”

32-6A HEATING UP: Three games remain in the regular season and the playoff race in District 32-6A is coming down to the wire with five teams fighting for the final three playoff spots.

On Friday, Los Fresnos clinched its fourth straight district title and claimed the No. 1 seed with a win against Brownsville Rivera. Jordan Ur-bina and Andrew Carrizales both netted 19 points each in the win.

With the Falcons clinching the title, Rivera fell into a four-way tie with Harlingen High, Harlingen South and Weslaco High, which all have 7-4 records.
On Tuesday, Weslaco will look to keep pace in the playoff race as they travel to Los Fresnos.

Meanwhile, Harlingen South picked up a win against Weslaco East on Friday and Harlingen High also won against Brownsville Hanna. South will take on Rivera and Harlingen will host San Benito this coming week.

Big Red got a 30-point performance from Michael Arellano including four 3-pointers in the fourth quarter. Both Antonio Aguilar and Kameryn Gonzalez contributed with 10 points each while Jeremy Vasquez netted 11 points.

LYFORD GAINING STEAM IN LEAGUE PLAY: Layne Klostermann posted his third straight double-double on Friday and helped guide Lyford to an 84-43 win against IDEA Quest.

Klostermann finished with 23 points and 13 rebounds in the win while Jeremy Jimenez also finished with a double-double. Jimenez netted 13 points and 13 rebounds.

Lyford is 3-2 in District 32-3A but will take a break from the league grind on Tuesday when they travel to Brownsville St. Joseph in a non-district contest.

KEVIN NARRO | Valley Morning Star

WESLACO — For the second time this season, San Benito and Weslaco battled to the bitter end.

Much like their first matchup, the Lady Greyhounds rallied in the final quarter only this time it took overtime to decide a winner.

Hailey Lopez had ice in her veins with a 3-pointer that gave the Lady Hounds a five-point lead in OT. The three ball helped spark a 7-0 run that put the game on ice as San Benito completed the season sweep against Weslaco with a 49-45 win on Friday night.

Lopez was held scoreless for the first three quarters until the final period. She finished with nine points with all of them coming from beyond the arc and at key moments.

“That was the biggest shot of my career so far,” Lopez said of her game winner. “We have worked so hard and I’m so happy we won. We finally got it. Sweeping Weslaco is an amazing feeling. We were down but we never quit. We knew we could come back because we have done it before.”

Trailing 41-33 with two minutes left in the game, it looked as if Weslaco was going to seal the win and claim a share of the District 32-6A title. But San Benito had other ideas as Mikayla Garcia brought the Lady Hounds back and tied the game at 41-all with 30 seconds left.

With the victory, San Benito, Harlingen and Weslaco are all tied for first place in the league at 11-2 and will need the final game of the season on Tuesday to decide a district winner. Weslaco is at Los Fresnos while San Benito plays at Harlingen High.

“The most important thing was to stay positive and keep fighting,” said San Benito coach Abel Moreno. “At the end of the day, win or lose, we gave it all we had. I told our girls we deserve to win and win a district title, and the girls showed up to play.”

Friday’s win wasn’t easy for the Lady Hounds. They fell behind early in the first half 29-23 and trailed at the half. The Lady Panthers got a strong effort from Illiyah Cantu, who scored a game high 19 points.

Weslaco let an eight-point lead slip away in the final minutes and couldn’t capitalize offensively in the final minutes of overtime.

Mikalya Garcia once again played a vital role in the Lady Hounds’ success. A week ago against Harlingen South, San Benito looked to Garcia to step up and the senior delivered. Garcia displayed her senior leadership and scored a team high 13 points.

“Coach Moreno wanted us to keep pushing and we believed in ourselves that we could win,” Garcia said. “When Hailey made that 3-pointer it gave us so much momentum, we knew we had what we wanted and we finished strong.

“We feed off of each other’s energy. Now that we’re that much closer to a district title, it’s crazy because this is something we have always wanted and dreamed of.”

KEVIN NARRO | Valley Morning Star

EDINBURG — On Thursday, the University Interscholastic League threw a wrench into the reclassification and realignment for the next two years.

District 32-6A was one of the leagues thrown off guard by dwindling down from an eight-team district to a six-team conference.

“I thought we would have a seven-team district,” said Harlingen coach Manny Gomez. “But you never know, the UIL can be unpredictable and can never really set anything in stone. But whatever comes in our direction, we’re going to embrace it.”

For the next two years, District 32-6A district will house Harlingen, Harlingen South, Brownsville Rivera, Brownsville Hanna, Los Fresnos and San Benito. Both Weslaco and Weslaco East were sent back to District 31-6A where they spent the 2014-16 seasons.

The Cards will open their non-district schedule against Sharyland Pioneer followed by Laredo United South, a home game against Converse Judson, Weslaco East and Midland High.

“We were not expecting a six-team district, so finding a Week Five game was tough,” Gomez said. “We started hearing from schools in Amarillo and El Paso, but we were able to jump on Midland and lock them up.”

San Benito, which is the defending 32-6A champion, will open the regular season with a unique matchup against Calallen, which is no stranger to Valley squads. The Hounds’ non-district schedule will also include matchups against Victoria West, PSJA High, Laredo United and Midland Lee.

“It was a little surprising that we’re now a six-team district, but it is something we need to get ready for,” said San Benito coach Dan Gomez.

San Benito, like most teams in the district, struggled to find two extra games. A majority of the region holds seven to eight teams in their leagues and didn’t allow teams to free up the non-district schedule.

“We had to go out of the region to find some games. We waited to see what was posted on the board and, fortunately for us, we were able to schedule some solid teams and it will prepare us for district.” Gomez said.

Harlingen South will open its 2018 season with a matchup against Edinburg High and will also see PSJA North, McAllen High, Weslaco and Odessa High in the final week of non-league play.

“This isn’t what we expected, it was definitely a curveball for sure,” said Hawks coach Brian Ricci. “It had us running around looking for games. No doubt this was one of the more difficult realignments I’ve experienced, but it’s something we will have to deal with. Basically everything stayed the same. We thought we would see Donna North or a Mission (team) come to our district to make a seven-team district, but for the most part this is the nucleus of our district. It was shocking to see a six-team district.”

NOTE: The Battle of the Arroyo between Harlingen and San Benito is set for Week Seven while the Bird Bowl between Harlingen and Har-lingen South will be played Week 10.

DISTRICT 16-4A DII BECOMES A FOUR-TEAM LEAGUE: District 16-4A Division II took an unusual turn as it saw their six-team league shrink to a four.

West Oso and Orange Grove are now gone, leaving just Progreso, Port Isabel, Raymondville and Rio Hondo.

With this configuration, all four teams are guaranteed a spot in the football playoffs.

Rio Hondo opens its season against La Joya Juarez-Lincoln and will have matchups against Zapata, Brownsville St. Joe, Grulla, Hidalgo and La Feria.

KEVIN NARRO | Valley Morning Star

With the high school boys basketball season winding down, Lyford’s Layne Klostermann continues to shine for the Bulldogs.

This past week, the Dogs went 1-1 in District 32-3A play but got solid performances from Klostermann, who posted back-to-back double-doubles.

For his efforts, Klostermann was named the Valley Morning Star’s Player of the Week.

“It means a lot,” he said of receiving the honor. “It shows that all my hard work is playing off. I wouldn’t be able to win this award without the help of my teammates. Our coaching staff has always told us that when one of us gets recognized the whole team gets recognized.”

In a loss to Santa Rosa last Friday, Klostermann scored 23 points, pulled down10 rebounds and went 10 of 14 from the free-throw line.

On Tuesday, Lyford bounced back with a strong 76-46 win against Monte Alto that brought their district record back to the .500 mark at 2-2.

Against the Blue Devils, Klostermann scored 19 points and had 10 rebounds. Once again he displayed a steady hand from the charity stripe by going 9 of 10.

“I’ve been happy with my performances these past few games,” he said. “My teammates and I have been playing some good basketball, and that is allowing me to get some open shots. My free throws have been falling and that has helped me with my scoring as well.”

KEVIN NARRO | Staff Writer

On Tuesday District 32-6A got a little more interesting. With two weeks remaining in the regular season the playoff race heated up. The final slate of games will decide whose season will end and who will advance to the postseason.

Harlingen, Harlingen South and Weslaco are all tied with a 6-4 record. On Tuesday, Harlingen fell to Los Fresnos and Weslaco beat Harlingen South to split the season series.

On Friday, South will host Weslaco East, Harlingen will meet Brownsville Hanna and Weslaco will play Brownsville Rivera.

Each of the three teams are in control of their own destiny. The Panthers who shared the district title last season with the Falcons have caught fire and have won three straight and are alive in the playoff race. Against South, the Panthers used a strong first half effort to cruise past the Hawks. Braxton Bloomquist netted 12 points while Safi Fino finished with 10 points.

Harlingen High suffered a season sweep against Los Fresnos on Tuesday, but are also alive in the playoff hunt. Big Red will meet Hanna who they beat earlier this season will look to get back in the win column.

The Hawks struggled to generate any offense against Weslaco, will look to get back on track against Weslaco East. South will aim for a season sweep when the Wildcats pay a visit to Harlingen South.

San Benito, meanwhile, snapped their two game skid with a 42-40 win against Hanna. The Hounds were led by Aaron Medrano who scored 14 points along with David Juarez who scored eight points in the win. San Benito will travel to Weslaco this Friday.

Trojans continue to roll

In what was their biggest game of the season, San Perlita delivered. The Trojans fed off a 17-point performance from Jaime Zallar and beat Santa Maria 55-49 on Tuesday, improving their district record to 6-0.

Tige Johnson finished with 14 points and Noah Olivarez netted 10 points for the Trojans. Up next for San Perlita is a road game against La Villa on Friday with the tip off set for 7:30 pm.

Lyford rebounds with win over Monte Alto

The Bulldogs got back in the win column with a win 76-46 win against Monte Alto. Layne Klostermann continues his strong season with another double-double. Klostermann finished the night with 19 points and 10 rebounds.

Lyford improves their district record to 2-2 and will look to get above the .500 mark when they meet IDEA Frontier on Friday with game time slated for 7:30 pm

KEVIN NARRO | Staff Writer

HARLINGEN — 2017 was a special year for Harlingen South softball. The Lady Hawks emerged as a top tier team, got healthy and got hot at the right time while reaching the sweet 16 for the fourth time in program history.

Under third-year head coach Elias Martinez, 2018 is looking to be another strong season for the Lady Hawks.

“We’re off to a good start, we have been going back to routine plays and mental toughness,” said senior Kaitlynn De La Fuente. “We played in our first scrimmage on Monday, we’re still a little rusty but offensively we hit the ball well and on defense we made the routine plays.
“Our chemistry this year is great, we have a lot of girls back and everyone is on the same page.”

On paper Harlingen South looks young with sophomores Kayla Rodgers, Kytana Muniz and Kelsey Rivera along with juniors Natasha Canales and Krystal Gonzales. The strong core of underclassmen all have varsity and playoff experience and are ready to step into the starting lineup.

“Since my freshman year I have been a part of a playoff team and that’s something special to me,” Gonzales said. “We know our district is going to be tough, every team has plenty of talent. Our mentality is to take it one game at a time and we have the experience to do that.”

The Lady Hawks lost three seniors to graduation last season, the toughest challenge will be replacing first baseman and cleanup hitter Ashley Reyna. In the circle, Daisy Gallegos returns for her senior season and will once again be the ace of the staff.

Gallegos who signed a letter of intent to play softball at Jarvis Christian College earlier this month is eager to end her high school career on a high note and return to the playoffs.

“Signing my letter of intent felt like a weight off my shoulders,” said Gallegos. “I’m now focused and ready for this season. Over the off-season I worked on my velocity and my endurance, I want to be ready for the season and be able to go deeper into games.”

District 32-6A is shaping up to be the toughest district in the Valley. Last season the Lady Hawks finished in third place behind Weslaco and San Benito. This year South will once again be in the thick of the district race and will look to return to the postseason.

“It’s been a while since we last hit the field,” Martinez said. “We had a great run last year and this year the girls have been itching to get back on the field. The weather hasn’t cooperated with us the last few weeks, so we’re adjusting to that and getting better each day.

“The kids understand that last year’s success was last year and we can’t live in the past, all that did was put a target on our back, but the kids are up for the challenge and continue to work and get better.”

KEVIN NARRO | Staff Writer

HARLINGEN — The Los Fresnos Falcons got a step closer to winning the District 32-6A title on Tuesday as they completed a season sweep against the Harlingen Cardinals, 71-55.

The Falcons got a strong 18-point effort from Gabe Martinez to pull past the Cards.

“We have a seasoned group, the kids finished strong tonight and I’m proud of them,” said Falcons coach Marco Hinojosa. “The entire game was tough because Harlingen is a great ball club and they brought it tonight. Our kids weathered the storm and that’s basketball.”

With the win, the Falcons remain in the driver’s seat with a 10-0 district record and are now one win away from clinching the league title. The Falcons host Brownsville Rivera on Friday.

Harlingen, meanwhile, sits at 6-4 and is in control of its own destiny with four games remaining. The Cards will meet Brownsville Hanna on Friday before finishing the season next week against San Benito, Harlingen South and Rivera.

“This is a tough district and each week is a battle so every game is important,” said Cardinals assistant coach Lee Roy Sanchez. “Tonight we turned over the ball too many times in the second half and in the end that’s what hurt us. We didn’t start the fourth quarter strong and against a team like Los Fresnos they will make you pay.”

The Cards battled back in the second quarter by keeping within striking distance. Harlingen got strong play from Jeremy Vasquez, who scored a game high 20 points. Meanwhile, junior point guard Michael Arellano struggled to generate any offense and finished with four points, which marks a season low.

After three quarters, Los Fresnos led 50-43 but it was the fourth quarter where the momentum shifted in favor of Los Fresnos. The Falcons heated up and used an 11-0 run to extend their lead 61-43 as they outscored Harlingen 21-12 in the final period.

“Harlingen did a great job on forcing turnovers,” Hinojosa said. “We told the kids to just take care of the basketball, make good passes and do the little things right. We hadn’t done it all night and once we started doing those things we were all right.”

KEVIN NARRO | Valley Morning Star

HARLINGEN — For new head softball coach Nora Aguilar, coming home to Harlingen High was her calling.

The 2004 Lady Cardinals alumna is back where she once played and is eager to return the program back into a contender.

After high school, Aguilar spent three years playing softball for Texas A&M-Kingsville then spent two years as an assistant at Raymondville High School before landing the head gig at Harlingen High this past offseason.

“Two years ago, I lost my sister and on her tombstone it says, ‘I’ll be waiting for you at home,’ and the day that I got the phone call that I was hired (at Harlingen High) I was there at her grave,” Aguilar said. “Being able to come back home is awesome, I can’t even begin to explain. Once I saw it in the paper that the position was available, I got on line and I applied. I mean, who wouldn’t want to coach where they once played?”

The Lady Cards missed the playoffs last season but made it in 2016 under former head coach Kassandra Hernandez. This season Aguilar has a pair of juniors in pitcher/shortstop Carla Arellano and catcher Emily Garcia who are expected to be two key pieces to the club this season.

“I’m very excited to be back out on the field,” Garcia said. “I bat in the middle of the order and all offseason I have worked hard to stay there. I’ve batted there since my freshman year and I’m ready to be back in that same position this year. Coach Aguilar came out here and showed us what she had, and we’re excited to have her as our coach.”

For Arellano, this season is an emotional one. Last season during the Lady Cards’ first scrimmage against Brownsville Veterans, Arellano tore her meniscus and ACL in her right knee, and missed the rest of the season.

“This year is my comeback season,” Arellano said. “It was a hard recovery process, but I kept telling myself it’s a minor setback for a major comeback. Being back out here is what kept me going. Friday was our first day back and I was excited and nervous to get back on the field.”

This season, Arellano is 100 percent healthy and is motivated to lead the Lady Cards in the circle. The righty holds multiple pitches, including a curveball, riseball, screwball and a drop. Her favorite pitch to throw, however, is the knuckleball.

This season the Lady Cards open the regular season on Feb. 13 at Edinburg High. However, their first scrimmage of the season is set for Tuesday at Brownsville Veterans – just like last year.

Arellano’s return to the diamond will be an emotional one, but she is eager to get her junior season rolling.

“I’m a little nervous because it’s against the same team and it’s around the same time it happened last year. I’m excited to be back, though, and I know I will be ready.” she said.

KEVIN NARRO | Valley Morning Star

SAN BENITO — The San Benito Lady Greyhounds are looking to hit the ground running this season and, like every year, are expected to compete for a district title. The difference this time around is that they will try to do so under the watch of a new head coach.

Denise Lira was named the Lady Hounds’ softball coach last year replacing Kristy Leal, who went to Mercedes. Lira brings a wealth of experience from the college level. Over the course of 13 seasons, she has spent time at Concordia University as a head coach, the University of the Incarnate Word as a first assistant and at Mary Hardin-Baylor as an assistant.

“We’re excited to hit the ground running,” Lira said. “We’re working in some kids at new positions and we’re going through the basics on what needs to get done. The kids are excited to be out here and are ready to work.”

The Lady Hounds have a core of five seniors who look to play a vital role in 2018. Joanna Gonzalez, Audrey Huerta, Megan Ybarra, Aaliyah Rangel and Deztiny Hernandez all return and have playoff experience.

“I tell the younger girls to relax when you come into this program,” Gonzalez said. “We have our team set and we know what the expectations are. Most importantly, they need to relax and have fun because that’s what makes this game special.”

Last season, the Lady Hounds reached the postseason and won a bi-district title before falling in the area round. This season, the pieces are in play for San Benito to be in the district title race and make a deep playoff run.

San Benito also holds a strong group of juniors highlighted by AJ Jasso and Sarah Garcia. Jasso, who provides a top-of-the-order bat and solid glove in the outfield, will be aided by Garcia, who can play shortstop and has experience in the circle.

“It’s great to be back on the field, especially with this group of girls,” Jasso said. “I love working hard with them. I missed being out here on the field. We have a great chemistry with each other. Coach Lira has taught me a lot since she got here. We’re excited to have her as our coach.”

The Lady Hounds will have an uphill battle in what is looking to be the toughest district in the Valley with Weslaco, Harlingen South, Los Fresnos and Harlingen all in the mix.

“There are times were the older girls lead vocally and then there are times they lead by example,” said Lira. “They’re a great core group. This district is going to be great and competitive. Every game will be anyone’s game and we’re going to take care of what we can take care of, and take it one game at a time. Right now we’re focused on getting everyone together and moving on the same page.”