VALLEY HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS SOCCER STANDINGS

DISTRICT 30-6A

Team W L Pts.

McAllen High 10 0 30

La Joya Juarez-Lincoln 9 1 26

McAllen Memorial 8 2 24

McAllen Rowe 5 5 15

PSJA North 3 7 10

La Joya High 2 8 7

PSJA High 1 9 5

Mission High 1 9 3

DISTRICT 31-6A

Team W L Pts.

Edinburg North 8 1 23

Edinburg Vela 7 2 21

Donna North 6 3 19

Edinburg High 5 3 15

Weslaco High 3 5 9

Weslaco East 1 7 3

Edinburg Economedes 0 9 0

DISTRICT 32-6A

Team W L Pts.

Los Fresnos 6 1 17

Harlingen South 5 2 16

Harlingen High 4 3 12

Brownsville Hanna 4 3 12

Brownsville Rivera 1 4 3

San Benito 0 6 0

DISTRICT 31-5A

Team W L Pts.

Sharyland Pioneer 7 1 22

Sharyland High 5 2 19

Roma 7 1 19

PSJA Memorial 5 3 13

Mission Veterans 3 5 11

Rio Grande City 0 8 0

La Joya Palmview 2 5 6

PSJA Southwest 2 5 6

DISTRICT 32-5A

Team W L Pts.

Brownsville Pace 7 1 21

Edcouch-Elsa 5 3 16

Brownsville Porter 6 2 15

Brownsville Lopez 5 3 15

Brownsville Veterans 4 4 13

Donna High 3 5 10

Mercedes 2 6 6

Valley View 0 8 0

VALLEY HIGH SCHOOL BOYS SOCCER STANDINGS

DISTRICT 30-6A

Team W L Pts.

La Joya Juarez-Lincoln 10 0 30

La Joya High 8 2 21

McAllen Memorial 5 5 18

PSJA North 7 3 16

McAllen Rowe 5 5 12

Mission High 3 7 8

McAllen High 4 6 8

PSJA High 4 6 7

DISTRICT 31-6A

Team W L Pts.

Donna North 9 0 26

Edinburg Economedes 7 2 21

Edinburg High 5 3 16

Edinburg North 3 5 10

Edinburg Vela 3 6 9

Weslaco East 3 5 8

Weslaco High 0 8 0

DISTRICT 32-6A

Team W L Pts.

Brownsville Rivera 5 2 14

Harlingen South 4 3 13

San Benito 5 2 12

Brownsville Hanna 3 4 11

Harlingen High 2 5 6

Los Fresnos 2 5 5

DISTRICT 31-5A

Team W L Pts.

Sharyland High 9 1 27

Sharyland Pioneer 6 4 19

La Joya Palmview 7 3 18

Roma 6 4 18

PSJA Memorial 6 4 18

PSJA Southwest 3 5 7

Mission Veterans 1 9 3

Rio Grande City 1 9 3

DISTRICT 32-5A

Team W L Pts.

Brownsville Vets 9 1 27

Valley View 9 1 27

Brownsville Porter 6 4 19

Brownsville Pace 6 4 18

Brownsville Lopez 5 5 16

Donna High 2 8 6

Edcouch-Elsa 1 7 3

Mercedes 0 10 0

MISSION – The Roma Gladiators travel a lot, that’s no secret.

Aside from their 30-minute trip to Rio Grande City during the district season, their road matches take at least an hour traveling east; in some cases the commute is 90 minutes one way.

Spending so much time, almost six hours a week, on the bus might seem like a hassle, but the Roma girls soccer team makes use of its time together before and after intense 31-5A matches.

“Many people might think it’s stressful, but it’s not,” sophomore midfielder Elena Cano said. “We work more as a family when we talk together on the bus all the way over here. We talk about what we’re going to do (in the game) we talk about our private life, secrets and all that you know? It makes us more of a family.”

The westernmost school in the RGV might not have the same resources or numbers on each roster as programs in more populous Hidalgo County, but communication from the middle school levels through varsity have created a bond.

“We’re working with our middle school so they’re getting prepared for the high school level,” Roma coach Francisco Jamie said through a translator. “Last year, we only had one freshman, this year we have three. Maybe next year it will be around six or seven freshmen that will be on varsity. It’s the work and results from middle school and JVs”

Roma Middle School is just yards away from Roma High School and with Jamie and assistant Roel Barrera a constant presence at middle school practice, seventh- and eighth-graders have a clear understanding of what’s expected.

“Since middle school, we’ve learned technique, we had to practice speed – we practiced everything,” Cano said. “We didn’t only practice soccer, we practice as a family, we practice being friends. It was always united since middle school.”

Unity is a term used a lot around the team, especially when they watched two seniors go down with season-ending knee injuries. The loss of Melanny Mendoza and Daiyanna Sanchez was hard on senior Mayra Estrada, but thanks to a group of young players ready to step up, Roma hardly missed a beat.

“We kept practicing even though the players that were injured were really important for the team,” Estrada said. “We still have to manage it well and get ready for what was coming.”

The Gladiators were playoff qualifiers the past three seasons but with a five-game winning streak to start the season, including a win over Sharyland High, the rest of the district is on high alert for this group.

Cano had an older sister who played for the Gladiators. She is glad that her team is starting to change the perception of Roma soccer.

“It’s nice to beat some of the teams because we know that in past seasons some teams would laugh at us,” Cano said. “They thought that we were nothing and now we started with a winning streak that was really good for us. It helped us think that we were enough to be in this district.”

The Gladiators are 8-2 in district and tied for second place behind Sharyland Pioneer with Sharyland High. Both teams have 22 points and have won a game against each other.

“It’s special because they underestimated us,” Estrada said. “Now, they don’t see us like that. We see that our good training and everything paid off.”

Roma’s final four games are against PSJA Southwest, La Joya Palmview and a showdown against No. 1 Pioneer at home before finishing the regular season against Mission Veterans.

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Valley HS boys soccer results, March 1, 2019.

District 30-6A

La Joya Juarez-Lincoln 3, Mission High 1

La Joya High 1, McAllen High 0

McAllen Rowe 1, PSJA North 0

PSJA High def. McAllen Memorial (PKs)

District 31-6A

Donna North 4, Edinburg Economedes 1

Edinburg Vela 3, Weslaco High 0

Edinburg High 3, Edinburg North 0

District 32-6A

Harlingen South 5, San Benito 1

Brownsville Hanna 2, Harlingen HIgh 1

Los Fresnos 2, Brownsville Rivera 1

District 31-5A

Sharyland High 3, Sharyland Pioneer 1

PSJA Southwest 2, PSJA Memorial 1 (PKs)

Mission Veterans at La Joya Palmview, not reported

Roma vs. Rio Grande City, not reported

District 32-5A

Valley View 5, Brownsville Porter 1

Brownsville Veterans 7, Mercedes 0

Brownsville Pace 3, Brownsville Lopez 2

Valley HS girls soccer results, March.

District 30-6A

La Joya Juarez-Lincoln 7, Mission High 0

McAllen High 4, La Joya High 0

McAllen Rowe 1, PSJA North 0

McAllen Memorial 6, PSJA High 0

District 31-6A

Donna North 10, Edinburg Economedes 0

Edinburg Vela 2, Weslaco High 1

Edinburg North 2, Edinburg High 1 (PKs)

District 32-6A

Harlingen South 5, San Benito 1

Brownsville Hanna 2, Harlingen HIgh 1

Los Fresnos 2, Brownsville Rivera 1

District 31-5A

Sharyland Pioneer 2, Sharyland High 0

PSJA Memorial 4, PSJA Southwest 2

Mission Veterans at La Joya Palmview, not reported

Roma vs. Rio Grande City, not reported

District 32-5A

Brownsville Porter 2, Brownsville Lopez 1

Brownsville Porter 5, Valley View 0

Brownsville Veterans 3, Mercedes 0

BY BRYAN RAMOS | STAFF WRITER

MISSION — It took just 25 seconds for La Joya Juarez-Lincoln to strike in its matchup against Mission High Friday night as District 30-6A’s top teams clashed at Tom Landry Stadium.

Senior striker Nicolas Diaz received the ball on the right side of the field and took two dribbles before sending a rocket just left of the Mission goalie and into the back of the net. The Huskies have gotten used to seeing the ball go in early against opponents as this was their second time scoring in the game’s opening 30 seconds.

“We’ve been playing really well lately and we’ve been scoring goals real quick, so it seems we’re getting used to it,” Juarez-Lincoln coach Victor Ramos said after his team’s 3-1 win over the Eagles. “We just wanted to play our game. We know we’re one of the better teams and we just wanted to play the way that we’ve been playing lately.”

Eight minutes after Diaz’ goal, the Huskies were at it again. Junior midfielder Sergio Escareno was tapped to take a Juarez-Lincoln penalty kick, which he converted to put his team up 2-0 just 10 minutes into the match.

The Eagles’ back was against the wall facing a two-goal deficit, but that’s when Mission made its move. Junior forward Sebastian Montes attacked the Juarez-Lincoln defense and found himself with just the goalie in between him and the net. Montes won that battle to give Mission its only goal of the match with 12:50 to play in the first half. Although the Eagles had plenty of opportunities to punch one in over the next 50 minutes, they couldn’t convert.

“We played equally in the second half and we had several chances,” Mission coach Christos Barouhas said. “We controlled the game the way we’re supposed to, we won a lot of balls. We should have scored, but it didn’t happen, and that’s the nature of the game. We’re learning from our mistakes and we’ll take it from there.”

Diaz scored his second goal of the night off a deflection with 10:39 remaining to seal the victory for the Huskies.

“We wanted to win to stay in first place, and that’s our goal, district champs again,” Diaz said after his two-goal performance. “We’re building confidence to get to the playoffs and working harder.”

The win improves Juarez-Lincoln’s district record to 10-0 with 30 points, while Mission falls to 8-2 and 22 points.

“Every game is preparation for the playoffs,” Ramos said. “We want to continue improving, playing good soccer and try to improve every time out.”

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Coach Lucio Rodriguez, Edinburg Vela pave path for RGV hoops ascension

BY NATHANIEL MATA | STAFF WRITER

Edinburg Vela’s season came to an end after its regional semifinal loss to Cibolo Steele Friday night in San Antonio.
Even though the SaberCats’ defeat marked the end of the 2018-19 basketball season in the RGV, first-year head coach Lucio Rodriguez has a solid foundation for the next powerhouse program.

Vela competed in its second regional tournament in four years and its first sweet 16 at the 6A classification.

“This is a team we’re going to look at that set the standards for this program, and I don’t mean just on the basketball level,” Rodriguez said. “The group of kids we had was very respectful and hard-working. They did the things that people don’t see on the court. Of course, we always want to come to regionals and we always want to win games, but the process to get here, this team will always be remembered.”

Vela went 28-11 overall and earned a share of the 31-6A district championship. The group was able to dispel Brownsville Hanna before knocking off Laredo United South and Laredo United, two Laredo programs that had beat them in non-district.

Rodriguez, who was a standout on the court for Edinburg High in the mid-2000s, said that he’s watched the sport reach new heights first-hand.

Two of the four regional semifinals represented cities south of the Austin and San Antonio metro areas.

“We’re knocking on the door and I think eventually we’re going to catch up to these teams,” Rodriguez said. “We’re playing ball year-round, there’s a lot of kids interested in the sport, there’s a lot of opportunities for kids to play travel. Hopefully, we can be here next year inching toward the elite eight and of course the state tournament at the 6A level.”

The SaberCats will say goodbye to arguably the RGV’s most dominant post player, Noah Sekinger, who had 24 points Friday night. Rodriguez explained the importance of his 6-foot-5-inch rim protector.

“Noah is the epitome of a hard worker, the example of a great player to coach; he’s respectful and has good grades,” Rodriguez said. “And then his on-court skills – he’s by far probably the most dominant big in the Valley. He even showed it here in the regional tournament, they were having a tough time with him.”

Seven seniors will graduate before Vela takes the floor for the 2019-20 season including Nate Gomez, J.D. Velasquez, Sebastian Guardado, Aziel Garcia, Josh Diaz, Joshua Villarreal and Kobe Gibson.

Rodriguez said he hopes the lesson he taught can extend far beyond transition offense and half-court defense.

“As a coach, I know that each one of those kids is going to have more successful journeys than their basketball careers…that’s the ultimate goal, winning games and deep playoff runs, but then preparing them a successful adult life. Yeah, basketball ends, but I’m their coach for life.”

The junior class, however, is in position to continue the SaberCats’ tradition. Bobby Espericueta highlights a group of 11th-graders that include starters Kaleb Coronado and Austin Garza.

“We had a great group of juniors coming back and three starters who were very versatile,” Rodriguez said. “They started the entire season. We bring back minutes and we’re excited about them. We have two starters to fill but there are more than enough capable guys to step in and continue right where we left off.”

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NATHANIEL MATA | STAFF WRITER

MISSION — A key for a team leading its district halfway through league play is to duplicate wins and defeat the squads that want revenge from the first time around.

The Sharyland High Rattlers did just that, not allowing visiting Roma to sniff redemption and downing the Gladiators 2-0 Tuesday night.

Sharyland sweeps the season series by a combined score of 5-0 but, more importantly, pushes its district lead to five points after dropping its first district match on Friday.

For the first 40 minutes, Shary peppered the opposing keeper with shots and close chances but couldn’t find the first tally. Alonso Gonzalez said that keeping their composure was crucial to finding the goal first.

“At first we struggled, but our team captain said to stay calm and we did because we knew we had a lot of shots,” Gonzalez said. “We knew after the first one it would be a little easier.”

Early in the second half, the Rattlers finally put home the goal they spent 40 minutes previewing. With just five minutes gone in the second half, Gonzalez found himself alone with the goalie and chipped the ball over the keeper and into the net.

“Sometimes when you get too ahead of yourself you really don’t think and you lose the opportunity,” Gonzalez said. “So I saw the goalkeeper was a little out so I took the chance and I shot it over the goalie.”

With 18:37 to play, the speed that forward Carlos Rodriguez had been showcasing all evening came to life. Rodriguez beat all of his markers and dished the ball to Alberto Martinez, who had a yawning net to boot in the second goal.

Speed has been a factor for the Rattlers all season and Tuesday’s win was no exception.

“Our offense is very dangerous because of our technical ability,” Martinez said. “I think that every single player on the field has very good technique. Yes (Rodriguez) and Derek Garza are very fast players, but I think it’s the people that make the passes to them and it just makes it that much easier.”

Between Sharyland’s first and second goals, Jorge Morales was a force for the Gladiators to reckon with. He took multiple shots that narrowly missed the target.

The Rattlers bounce-back win was fueled by extra motivation after falling 2-1 in penalty kicks to La Joya Palmview. Sharyland’s veteran coach was not too worried about the loss, citing a tough district.

On Tuesday, Palmview topped second-place Sharyland Pioneer in penalties to allow Shary High to stretch its advantage.

“What happened against Palmview just happened,” Sharyland coach Rev Hernandez said after the win. They played very well (against us) so did (PSJA) Memorial, who (also) took us to penalties.”

Hernandez explained the difficulties in sweeping a district opponent.

“The thing is, they already know what we’re going to be doing, so they’re expecting us to do it,” Hernandez said. “All we have to do is be patient, I think our guys did an excellent job today,” Hernandez said. “Everything starts in the back, with the goalie. We let everybody touch the ball. As long as we’re moving and everyone’s touching the ball we’re fine.”

Between the pipes, Rattlers’ tandem Gabriel Tamez and Armando Montes combined for a mostly uneventful shutout.

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Valley HS Boys Soccer Schedule 2018

Tuesday, Feb. 26

District 30-6A

La Joya High 2, McAllen Memorial 1

La Joya Juarez-Lincoln 10, McAllen Rowe 0

PSJA North 3, PSJA High 2 (PKs)

Mission High 2, McAllen High 0

District 31-6A

Donna North 2, Edinburg North 0

Edinburg Economedes 4, Edinburg Vela 1

Weslaco East 3, Edinburg High 2

District 32-6A

Harlingen South 4, Los Fresnos 1

San Benito 1, Harlingen High 0

Brownsville Rivera 2, Brownsville Hanna 1 (OT)

District 31-5A

La Joya Palmview 3, Sharyland Pioneer 2 (PKs)

Sharyland High 2, Roma 0

PSJA Memorial 6, Rio Grande City 3

PSJA Southwest 5, Mission Veterans 2

District 32-5A

Valley View 6, Brownsville Lopez 0

Brownsville Pace 7, Edcouch-Elsa 0

Brownsville Porter 4, Mercedes 0

Brownsville Veterans 8, Donna High 0

VALLEY HS BOYS SOCCER BOX SCORES

Tuesday’s Games

District 30-6A

LA JOYA JUAREZ-LINCOLN 10,

McALLEN ROWE 0

McAllen Rowe 0 0 — 0

LJ Juarez-Lincoln 8 2 — 10

LA JOYA JUAREZ-LINCOLN (10): Sergio Escanero 4, Nicolas Diaz, Roberto Segura, Tony Torres, Ivan Flores, Johan Arevalo, Jonathan Hernandez

RECORD: La Joya Juarez-Lincoln 17-2-3, 9-0 (27 points)

MISSION HIGH 2, McALLEN HIGH 0

McAllen High – – — 2

Mission High – – — 0

MISSION HIGH (2): Aaron Rodriguez, Allen Palafox

RECORD: Mission High 8-1

Friday, March 1

District 30-6A

La Joya Juarez-Lincoln at Mission High, 8 p.m.

McAllen High at La Joya High, 8 p.m.

PSJA North at McAllen Rowe, 8 p.m.

McAllen Memorial vs. PSJA High

District 31-6A

Edinburg Economedes at Donna North, 8 p.m.

Weslaco High at Edinburg Vela, 8 p.m.

Edinburg North at Edinburg High, 8 p.m.

District 31-5A

Sharyland Pioneer at Sharyland High, 6 p.m.

PSJA Memorial at PSJA Southwest, 6 p.m.

District 32-5A

Valley View at Brownsville Porter, 5:30 p.m.

Brownsville Pace at Brownsville Lopez

District 31-4A

Pharr Vanguard at Hidalgo, 7:30 p.m.

BY NATHANIEL MATA | STAFF WRITER

“Our keys to the game was to control the tempo. We had to outrun them and use the court to our advantage because they’re a good ball club, they’re tall and lanky.” Miller coach Maurice Bastian said. “Defense is our bread and butter. We play stifling man-to-man defense and try to mix it up between half court and full-court pressure.”

Bastian said that his team’s football DNA fuels the ‘in your face’ pressure. Miller was 5-2 against the RGV coming into the area matchup, including wins over McAllen Rowe and Harlingen High.

“My entire team plays football so automatically we’re aggressive,” Bastian said. “However, we try to be smart, keep everything in front of us.”

The District 30-5A runner up, Miller took a 12-3 lead into the second quarter. Pioneer, however, eventually made the Bucs pay for not pulling away.

Darik Briseno made one of two free throws and Taggart Chandler scored on a tip-in to start a run. After a Briseno bucket and five points from Lindo in the quarter, the Diamondbacks were back in the game.

Pioneer cut the lead to one late in the second and trailed by just three at 18-15 heading into the locker room.

“We just had to stay level-headed throughout the rest of the second quarter, not let the pressure get to us,” Pioneer’s Luke Padilla said. “Being patient was the key — swing the ball around and get easy buckets.”

Conversions from beyond the 3-point line were a rarity for the 31-5A champion Diamondbacks. Padilla made his team’s only two from downtown on numerous attempts that were highly contested.
Lindo had five of his 12 points in the second quarter, he made two more baskets in the third quarter.

Miller came up big in all the key third-quarter moments. Andrew Body had all six of his points in the frame and strong play from senior Maleek Sanders, who finished with nine, was the ingredients for a 20-9 advantage in the period.

Miller’s momentum, hot shooting and a 12-point lead, along with Pioneer’s turnovers into the fourth were too much for the Diamondbacks to overcome.

Miller, who defeated Corpus Christi Calallen in the bi-district round, closed the game out strong with a raucous crowd behind them. An emphatic dunk by Xavier Callandret in the closing minutes put an exclamation on the win.

Pioneer will graduate three from its 2018-19 roster but will return key juniors and sophomores like Lindo, Padilla and Eddie Lee Marburger, who didn’t play due to injury.

Marburger wasn’t the only starter missing, fellow 10th-grader Miguelangel Gonzalez was unable to compete.

“We’re definitely full of confidence for the next couple of years,” Padilla said. “Even our sophomores on the team, I know we’re missing a couple of them because of injury, which is not what we wanted, but next year we expect big things.”

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