By ROY HESS | Staff Writer

The wait is over.

The District 32-5A boys basketball game that figures to decide the league championship takes place at 7:30 p.m. today when Brownsville Veterans Memorial plays host to Brownsville Pace.

The Vikings and Chargers share the top spot in the 32-5A standings with 11-1 records. Each team has one district game remaining next week, and today’s winner clinches at least a 32-5A co-championship.

“We know it’s going to be a tough one,” Pace coach Jose Luis Ramirez said. “Vets is a hard team to beat at home, but with the title on the line, it’s going to be a battle for the crown.

“We are looking forward to another great game between two great programs,” Ramirez added.

It will be a rematch of the first-round district game played Jan. 21 at Pace that was won 68-57 by the Vikings.

Pace held sole possession of the 32-5A lead until losing at home 61-42 to Donna High on Jan. 31. Since then, the Vikings and Chargers have been tied atop the district standings.

“It’s one of those intense intercity rivalries,” Brownsville Veterans coach Larry Gibson said. “The players from both teams know each other well, and they want to play their best against each other.

“To me it’s just like North Carolina vs. Duke,” Gibson added. “I call it ‘The Battle of Military Highway.’ I can’t wait for it.”

Gibson said playing the Vikings poses some challenges for his team.

“We’re concerned with their physicality and their speed,” he said. “The last time we played them we had 28 turnovers. We don’t want that to happen again.”

Each team closes out its district schedule next Tuesday. Pace is at Edcouch-Elsa and Brownsville Veterans is at Donna High.

The Class 5A playoffs are scheduled to start Feb. 24.

TAPPS PLAYOFFS

The Brownsville St. Joseph Academy Bloodhounds defeated Corpus Christi John Paul II 71-31 on Tuesday to qualify for the TAPPS Division II playoffs.

Leading the way for the Bloodhounds were John Martinez with 26 points, Josh Martinez with 24 and Rafa Varela with 10.

SJA opens the TAPPS playoffs at home at 2 p.m. Saturday against Houston Frassati.

“It’s a great feeling (to qualify for the playoffs),” Bloodhounds coach Sam Lucio said. “The team has been working hard all season to play in games like we had Tuesday. One of our goals this year was to get back into the playoffs. To accomplish that is a great feeling.

“But we know we still have some work to do, and we look forward to the opportunity to play in a playoff game at home,” Lucio added. “One of the main reasons we have been playing better is our team defense has improved a lot this year.”

32-6A UPDATE

The Los Fresnos Falcons have clinched at least a share of the District 32-6A title thanks to Tuesday’s 75-36 win against San Benito.

It’s the Falcons’ sixth straight district championship.

With two game dates left in district, Los Fresnos is 8-0, Harlingen High is 6-2, Harlingen South is 4-4, San Benito is 3-5, Brownsville Hanna is 2-6 and Brownsville Rivera is 0-8.

Los Fresnos, 28-3 on the season, is the Rio Grande Valley’s top-ranked team.

The Falcons next play host to South at 7:30 p.m. today.

By ROY HESS | Staff Writer

The impact Brownsville Jubilee has made since beginning UIL competition this school year is possibly even greater than school officials envisioned.

The Titans previously participated in charter school competition and advanced to state in several sports.

It’s been particularly successful for Jubilee in the UIL in girls sports. The Lady Titans were undefeated with an 18-0 record in winning the District 32-3A volleyball title in the fall. Their girls soccer team is enjoying success in District 32-4A.

Now the Lady Titans are District 32-3A girls basketball champions with a 17-1 record. It’s their fourth straight season to win a district championship.

“I think this group of girls is playing with a chip on its shoulder,” Lady Titans coach Victor Venegas said. “My team knew this year was going to be challenging because we are new to UIL. After winning the state championship in TCSAAL (charter school competition) last year, our girls took pride (in that) and wanted to come out this season to show they can compete with anyone. It doesn’t matter the league or the district.

“I have an outstanding group of girls that battle every night and that compete all the time, no matter the opponent,” Venegas added. “My top players are our starting five lineup of junior Alexis Robinson, junior Julissa Garza, senior Paola Vargas, freshman Mariana Espinosa and junior Jazmine Gracia.”

The Lady Titans begin the Class 3A playoffs against San Diego at 6 p.m. Monday at Lasara.

Lyford was the runner-up team in 32-3A with a 16-2 record, and Brownsville IDEA Frontier was third with a 14-4 mark. Santa Rosa and Monte Alto each went 10-8 to tie for fourth place.

LADY COUGARS WIN 32-2A

The Santa Maria girls have won District 32-2A with an undefeated record.

They captured the district championship with a 55-32 victory Tuesday at San Isidro.

The Lady Cougars, who begin the Class 2A playoffs next week, were led against San Isidro by junior Yazmin Cantu’s 17 points. Also for the Lady Cougars, senior Michelle Almazan scored nine points, senior Byanca Cantu had eight and junior Clara Briones had seven.

Mia Alvarado and Jordan Garcia scored 15 and six points, respectively, for San Isidro.

Santa Maria plays in a district that besides San Isidro includes Agua Dulce, Ben Bolt, Freer, La Villa, Premont and Riviera Kaufer.

PLAY-IN GAME

After finishing in a tie for fourth place in District 32-5A with 7-7 records, the Brownsville Pace Lady Vikings and Edcouch-Elsa Lady Yellowjackets are scheduled for a “play-in” game at 11 a.m. Saturday at Pace.

The winner advances to face District 31-5A champion Sharyland Pioneer next week in the bi-district round of the Class 5A playoffs. Pioneer won 31-5A with a 14-0 record.

Brownsville Veterans Memorial, ranked fifth in the Rio Grande Valley, won 32-5A with a 14-0 record. Valley View and Mercedes tied for second place in 32-5A with 8-6 marks.

SEEDING GAME

Also at 11 a.m. Saturday, the Harlingen South girls play host to Los Fresnos in a seeding game to determine second place in District 32-6A.

Harlingen High was the 32-6A winner with a 10-0 record, and South and Los Fresnos wound up deadlocked for second place with 7-3 marks. Brownsville Hanna (4-6) was the fourth-place team from 32-6A.

The Los Fresnos-South winner plays Edinburg Vela and the loser will go against Weslaco High or Edinburg High next week in the bi-district round of the Class 6A playoffs.

By ROY HESS, Staff Writer

At this point of the soccer season, the District 32-6A races for boys and girls may be described in a number of ways, none of which is boring.

With the end of the first half of district play in sight, the results have been unpredictable, close and many times surprising.

A 1-0 (3-2) penalty-kick “Bird Bowl” win Tuesday at home by the Harlingen High Lady Cardinals over Harlingen South plus Brownsville Rivera’s 1-0 overtime victory over San Benito created a three-way tie for first place in the 32-6A girls standings. The Lady Cards, Lady Hawks and Lady Raiders share first with nine points each and 3-1 district records.

“We face Rivera next (on Friday in Brownsville), and we want to go in playing tough and get the win,” Lady Cards coach Debra Galvan said. “The win against South gave us more confidence, especially for my goalie (Erianah Zapata).

“Our defense is stepping up big by stopping the other team’s offense,” Galvan added. “Now we are working at finishing up front on our chances.

“We are in a tough district, and we know how important every game is. We have to compete hard for every win, and that is our goal.”

Rounding out the six-team 32-6A girls standings, it’s Brownsville Hanna (2-2, six points), Los Fresnos (1-3, three points) and San Benito (0-4, no points).

The 32-6A boys race is just as tight.

A 4-2 win Tuesday by Hanna over Los Fresnos left the Golden Eagles and Falcons tied for first place with 3-1 records and nine points apiece.

“It was a great victory because our team defeated a very well-coached opponent,” Eagles coach Reyes Prado said. “But it was only three points (for the win) nonetheless.

“Our team is very focused on what it wants to accomplish at the end of the season (by going far in the playoffs),” Prado added. “We want to stay focused and carry on the Hanna winning tradition.”

Rounding out the rest of the 32-6A boys standings, it’s San Benito and Rivera tied for third with 2-2 records and six points apiece, and Harlingen High and Harlingen South next with 1-3 records and three points each.

32-5A UPDATE

Tuesday was an night of surprises in District 32-5A girls soccer.

District leader Brownsvile Porter (5-1, 15 points) lost 1-0 at Edcouch-Elsa. Also, Valley View defeated Brownsville Pace 1-0.

Porter retained its 32-5A lead, and after the Cowgirls it’s Pace (4-2, 13 points), Brownsville Veterans Memorial (5-1, 12 points), E-E (4-2, 12 points), Brownsville Lopez (3-3, nine points), Valley View (2-4, seven points), Donna High (1-5, four points) and Mercedes (0-6, no points).

The Pace girls play host to Porter at 7:30 p.m. Friday in a matchup of the district’s 1-2 teams.

Valley View (6-0, 18 points) continues to lead the 32-5A boys race. One game behind the Tigers is Brownsville Veterans (5-1, 15 points), followed by Lopez (4-2, 11 points), Porter (3-3, 10 points), Donna High (3-3, eight points), Pace (2-4, six points), Mercedes (1-5, three points) and E-E (0-6, no points).

TAPPS PLAYOFFS

The Brownsville St. Joseph Bloodhounds go after a third win in the TAPPS playoffs at noon today against Lutheran South Academy of Houston. The match will be played at San Antonio Christian School.

SJA opened the TAPPS playoffs last week with a 3-2 victory against Cypress Christian. The Bloodhounds then beat San Antonio Christian 1-0.

A TAPPS quarterfinal victory today against Lutheran South would advance the Bloodhounds to next week’s state semifinals against British International School of Houston or TMI Episcopal of San Antonio.

The TAPPS state final is Feb. 22 in Waco. The Bloodhounds have reached the state semifinals twice previously.

‘CHELIN’ CALLED UP

Isidro “Chelin” Martinez, a key member of Rivera’s 2015 Class 6A state championship team, has received a boost in his professional soccer career.

Chelin,” a midfielder-forward who played four years at the University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley, has been called up by the Houston Dynamo to be part of the roster for the Visit Tucson Sun Cup that is scheduled for this weekend.

By ROY HESS, Staff Writer

Missed penalty kicks have a way of coming back to haunt a soccer team.

The Porter Cowboys experienced such a turn of events Friday during their District 32-5A match at Brownsville Veterans Memorial.

Trailing by one goal midway through the second half, the Cowboys had a PK go off the post and bounce into the hands of the goalkeeper. A goal would have tied the score at 2.

As a result, Brownsville Veterans (4-1 district, 12 points) wound up winning 3-1 to stay close behind 32-5A leader Valley View (5-0, 15 points) in the standings.

The win also felt pretty good because the Chargers bounced back from Tuesday’s 3-0 setback against Valley View.

“It was a great game between two very good teams,” Chargers coach Alberto Vasquez said. “Both teams left everything on the field. It was just a great game.”

Porter (2-3, seven points) remains in the playoff hunt.

“Well, I was very surprised by some of our backups,” Porter coach Jose Espitia said. “We have had three starters sick with viruses and our two forwards are injured. Two of our defenders and two of our wingers had never started and did so today.

“I was very impressed (with them),” Espitia added. “It was not a very easy match, and we stayed in it most of the time. We had the tie (available to us) and missed that PK, which in result killed our morale.

“I am very proud of our boys because they kept hustling regardless of the score.”

The Chargers went up 1-0 during the early minutes of the match on a medium-range goal by Albert Maradiaga. Brandon Montes soon tallied for Porter to even the score at 1 by halftime.

Maradiaga scored a second goal 11 minutes into the second half to give the Chargers a 2-1 advantage. The score could have been deadlocked at 2 had the Cowboys converted their PK try.

The Chargers’ Jose Muniz found the net three minutes after the missed PK by Porter, and Brownsville Veterans came away with the 3-1 win.

In the nightcap of Friday’s 32-5A doubleheader at Brownsville Veterans, the Porter girls retained sole possession of the district lead by holding off the previously second-place Lady Chargers 2-1.

The Cowgirls improved to 5-0 with 15 points, and the Lady Chargers are now 4-1 with 10 points.

With Friday’s 3-0 win over Mercedes, the Pace girls move into second place in 32-5A with a 4-1 record and 13 points.

Denisse Romero scored both of the Cowgirls’ goals Friday, one during each half, as Porter built a 2-0 advantage.

“I’m really proud of the girls,” Cowgirls coach Abraham Gracia said. “There are always things to improve on, but I’m happy with the way we’re playing right now. They played a great game tonight.”

By ROY HESS, Staff Writer

Monday’s announcement of the new University Interscholastic League biennial district realignment has come and gone, and for the most part, has been welcomed by area coaches.

New district realignments affecting all sports during the next two school years, starting with August 2020, were announced in Harlingen.

For District 32-6A, it basically will be an expansion from six to eight teams with the addition of Weslaco High and Donna North to go along with Harlingen High, Harlingen South, San Benito, Brownsville Rivera, Brownsville Hanna, San Benito and Los Fresnos.

As far as the basketball coaches go, Clayton Cretors of the Harlingen High boys is willing to give the new district alignment a try.

“I can’t say it’s good or bad,” Cretors said. “I think our district is (going to be) more competitive. Schedules have to be adjusted to accommodate for the larger districts. But I don’t think it’s good or bad, just something every team has to adjust to.”

The Cardinals are 18-12 on the season and 4-2 in 32-6A. They are tied for second place in the district with Harlingen South, with their next game coming up at 7:30 p.m. today against the Hawks at the South gym in another “Bird Bowl” matchup.

Cretors likes the way his team has been playing.

“I like our efficiency on the offensive end as well as our communication on defense,” the Cardinals coach said. “I think we have steadily improved over the season.”

When asked about his top players, Cretors said they include senior guard-forward Mike Vasquez and junior point guard Eric Quilantan plus senior shooting guard Ashton Adams, who has been helping off the bench.

32-6A UPDATE

Los Fresnos continues to lead 32-6A with a 6-0 record as the Falcons close in on a sixth straight district championship. Harlingen High and Harlingen South come next at 4-2, San Benito and Hanna are 2-4, and Rivera is 0-6.

Los Fresnos, the Rio Grande Valley’s top-ranked team with a 26-3 season record, is coming off Tuesday’s 54-40 win at Harlingen High and will be at home to face Hanna at 7:30 p.m. today.

32-5A UPDATE

Brownsville Veterans Memorial and Brownsville Pace are the co-leaders in District 32-5A with 9-1 records. Donna High is third at 7-3, followed by Mercedes and Edcouch-Elsa, both at 5-5, Valley View at 3-7, Brownsville Porter at 2-8 and Brownsville Lopez at 0-10.

Donna High beat Pace 61-42 last Friday to create a tie for the top spot in the standings.

Brownsville Veterans plays host to Pace in a rematch Feb. 14 during the second round of district.

By ROY HESS, Staff Writer

The Harlingen High Lady Cardinals and Brownsville Veterans Memorial Lady Chargers find themselves in the same situation in girls basketball.

The Lady Cardinals are running away with the District 32-6A race, and the Lady Chargers are doing the same thing in District 32-5A.

Undoubtedly, Lady Cards coach Ashley Moncivaiz is telling her players pretty much the same thing Lady Chargers coach Arnold Torres is telling his team with the end of the regular season drawing near and the playoffs getting ready to start.

“Coming to the end of district, we are emphasizing the importance of being focused for the next game,” Torres said. “We’re preparing for one game at a time.

“With each game we are working on certain aspects of the game, whether it’s our defensive rotation, execution, etc.,” Torres added. “The girls are constantly reminded that they must be mentally prepared for every game.”

The Lady Chargers improved to 28-5 overall and 12-0 in 32-5A with Tuesday’s 41-26 victory at Brownsville Porter. Brownsville Veterans next plays at 6 p.m. today at Brownsville Lopez and ends its 32-5A schedule at home Feb. 11 against Edcouch-Elsa.

The closest team to the Lady Chargers in the 32-5A standings is Valley View at 7-5. Next are Mercedes, Brownsville Pace and Donna High, all tied at 6-6.

Brownsville Veterans is ranked seventh in the Rio Grande Valley, while Harlingen High is ranked fifth.

The Lady Cardinals are coming off Tuesday’s 45-40 win at home against Los Fresnos that gave them an 8-0 record in 32-6A. The Harlingen High girls are 28-7 on the season.

32-6A UPDATE

Behind Harlingen High in the 32-6A girls standings are Harlingen South at 6-2, Los Fresnos at 5-3, Brownsville Hanna at 4-4, San Benito at 1-7 and Brownsville Rivera at 0-8.

Harlingen High visits Harlingen South at 6 p.m. today for another edition of the “Bird Bowl.”

When the two teams met during the first round of district Jan. 21 at Harlingen High, the Lady Cardinals earned a 45-36 victory.

By ROY HESS, Staff Writer

The focus of high school athletics earlier this week in the Rio Grande Valley was the University Interscholastic League’s biennial district realignment that takes effect at the start of school next fall and runs through the 2022 school year.

All sports were affected, including soccer.

District 32-6A soccer is expanding from six to eight teams and will add Weslaco High and Donna North starting for the 2021 season. Already in 32-6A are San Benito, Los Fresnos, Harlingen High, Harlingen South, Brownsville Rivera and Brownsville Hanna.

District 32-5A will stay with BISD schools Brownsville Veterans Memorial, Brownsville Lopez, Brownsville Porter and Brownsville Pace, along with Donna High, Edcouch-Elsa and Mercedes. Weslaco East will move into 32-5A and take the place of Valley View, which is being realigned to District 31-5A. Joining Valley View in 31-5A will be McAllen High, McAllen Memorial and McAllen Rowe along with Sharyland High, Sharyland Pioneer, PSJA Memorial and PSJA Southwest.

Valley View coach Damian Magallan said his team welcomes the challenge in its new district.

“This new realignment gives us a chance to go against teams we haven’t faced in district before,” Magallan said. “Let’s see what level of play this new district brings. I think it will be a benefit to everyone. Our current district has the schools from Brownsville, which are very close in their level of competition. We’ll see what happens in our new district.”

Valley View won 32-5A last season and advanced to the UIL state tournament. The Tigers appear to be on the verge of winning 32-5A again.

Meanwhile, coaches in 32-6A seem to welcome the district’s expansion and view it as an opportunity for greater competition with eights rather than six.

“I feel this new realignment just brings in two more competitive teams into an already competitive district, with Weslaco High and Donna North coming in,” San Benito coach William Huerta said. “It will be interesting and challenging as always.”

Rivera coach Salvador Garcia agreed.

“In my humble opinion, I believe our district is going to be even tougher now with the addition of Weslaco High and Donna North. Donna North has created a powerhouse in boys soccer. This will help all of us tremendously, because that kind of competition will prepare us better for the postseason.”

32-6A UPDATE

After two game dates in 32-6A, Los Fresnos is atop the boys standings with a 2-0 record and six points. Hanna, Rivera, Harlingen High and San Benito are all tied for second place with 1-1 records and three points apiece. Harlingen South (0-2, no points) is next.

For the girls, Rivera and Harlingen High share the 32-6A lead with 2-0 records and six points each. Harlingen South comes next at 2-0 and five points, and Los Fresnos is 0-2 with one point. Hanna and San Benito are each 0-2 with no points.

32-5A UPDATE

Valley View has surged forward in the boys standings to lead with a 4-0 record and 12 points. Brownsville Veterans is in second place with a 3-1 record and nine points. Lopez is in third with a 3-1 record and eight points, and Porter is in fourth at 2-2 with seven points. After that, it’s Donna High (2-2, six points), Pace (1-3, three points), Mercedes (1-3, two points) and Edcouch-Elsa (0-4, no points).

The 32-5A girls are led by Porter with a 4-0 record and 12 points. Second place belongs to Brownsville Veterans with a 4-0 mark and 10 points. Pace is tied for second with the Lady Chargers at 3-1 and 10 points. E-E comes next at 2-2 and seven points, followed by Lopez (2-2, five points), Valley View (1-3, three points), Donna High (0-4, one point) and Mercedes (0-4, no points).

The Brownsville Veterans girls play host to the Cowgirls at 7:30 p.m. Friday.

TAPPS PLAYOFFS OPEN

The St. Joseph Academy Bloodhounds opened the TAPPS playoffs with a 3-2 win a home Wednesday against San Antonio Cypress. The Bloodhounds led 1-0 at halftime.

The Bloodhounds are scheduled to play an area-round match Saturday.

By ROY HESS, Staff Writer

LOS FRESNOS — The Harlingen South Lady Hawks and Los Fresnos Lady Falcons started off District 32-6A soccer competition with a penalty-kick thriller Friday night at Leo Aguilar Memorial Stadium.

The score was tied at 1 through 100 minutes of regulation and overtime play before the South girls rallied from deficits of 2-0 and 3-1 in PKs to prevail 6-5 in a 14-player shootout.

Officially, the match goes down as a 2-1 win for the Lady Hawks, who pick up two points in the 32-6A standings. The Lady Falcons come away with one point.

“Los Fresnos has a very good team,” South coach Omar Pedrzoza said. “Our girls had to play very hard to beat them. It was the kind of game we expected.”

Los Fresnos coach Diego Luna was equally impressed by both squads.

“It was exactly what we were expecting,” Luna said. “We knew South was going to come out and just be a tough team. Obviously, they have some talent up top (on offense), and we knew we had to be perfect to win this game.

“Unfortunately, early in the second half, we made a mistake and one of our players put in the ball in our own net (to give South a 1-0 lead),” Luna added. “But I liked the way our girls responded after that. They kept on fIghting and moving the ball.

“I feel like we dominated 90 percent of the game, but our finishing just wasn’t there today. South did an excellent job of just jamming the box with defenders, and we just couldn’t find a goal (to win).”

The “autogol” by Los Fresnos came during the 50th minute and gave South a 1-0 advantage.

Ten minutes later, during the 60th minute, Mindy Perez took a free kick on the right side from about 30 yards out for the Lady Falcons. The free kick was tapped into the left corner of the net out of the reach of the South goalkeeper by Alondra Lopez to even the score.

That was the way the tally stood until PKs.

With the score tied at 5 in PKs, Los Fresnos’ attempt by the 13th player in the shootout was blocked by South goalkeeper Joana Marquez. South’s Sarah Grace Flores-Garza came up next and converted her PK to win the match for the Lady Hawks 6-5.

Also making PKs for South were Caroline Grannum, Gabbi Martinez, Olivia Olivarez, Joana Marquez and Kim Torres.

Converting PKs for the Lady Falcons were Ashley Esparza, Yuliana Moreno, Mindy Perez, Hannah Wrinkle and Natalia Calvillo.

Sabrina Hinojosa made some standout plays as the Los Fresnos goalkeeper.

In the second game of Friday’s 32-6A doubleheader at Leo Aguilar Memorial Stadium, the Los Fresnos boys defeated the Hawks 1-0.

By ROY HESS | Staff Writer

The Harlingen South Hawks find themselves in the middle of the District 32-6A boys basketball race with a 2-2 record.

Los Fresnos leads six-team 32-6A with a 4-0 record in its quest to capture a sixth straight district championship. Harlingen High is in second place with a 3-1 mark, while South and Brownsville Hanna are tied at 2-2 with San Benito at 1-3 and Brownsville Rivera at 0-4.

The first half of district play for boys in 32-6A ends at 7:30 tonight with San Benito at South, Harlingen High at Hanna and Rivera at Los Fresnos.

South is coming off Tuesday’s 56-41 setback at home against Los Fresnos, the Rio Grande Valley’s top-ranked team with a 24-3 overall record.

“I am very pleased with the effort and fight the boys showed against Los Fresnos,” said Hawks coach Brian Molina, whose squad is 22-11 overall. “I see improvement from game to game, and I feel our best basketball is still ahead of us.

“We play a lot of players on our team, and we’re getting good, consistent play from junior Alex Rodriguez and senior Brady Bennett,” Molina added. “I am very blessed to have such a hard-working group of young men to work with every day. After our home game against San Benito, we will finish the season with four out of our last five games on the road. The boys are looking forward to the challenge.”

CRUCIAL WIN

Hanna’s boys are coming off Tuesday’s 68-59 overtime victory at Rivera that allowed the Golden Eagles to stay tied with South at 2-2.

Hanna was led by 16 points from Sabian Arceneaux and 14 from Isaiah Talamantez.

“We’re very young, but our boys are playing tough right now and fighting hard every game,” Hanna coach Fermin Lucio said. “They’re improving every game and learning from their mistakes.

“We hope to continue getting better to compete in our tough District 32-6A,” he added.

The Hanna-Harlingen High matchup figures to be the game of greatest competitive interest in 32-6A boys action tonight.

32-5A BOYS UPDATE

Thanks in large part to their 68-57 win at home against Brownsville Veterans Memorial on Jan. 21, the Brownsville Pace Vikings continue to lead the District 32-5A race with an 8-0 record.

Brownsville Veterans remains in second place with a 7-1 mark.

The two Brownsville teams both play at home at 7:30 tonight with Valley View at Brownsville Veterans and Donna High at Pace.

The rematch between the Vikings and Chargers during the second round of district is scheduled Feb. 14 at Brownsville Veterans.

Rounding out the 32-5A boys standings, it’s Donna High in third at 5-3, while Mercedes and Edcouch-Elsa are tied for fourth at 4-4. Valley View is 3-5, Brownsville Porter is 1-7 and Brownsville Lopez is 0-8.

By ROY HESS | Staff Writer

The Brownsville Veterans Memorial Lady Chargers have built a comfortable lead in the District 32-5A girls basketball race.

They have no intention of letting up now as they try to get back to the playoffs with Arnold Torres taking over as coach this season for the retired Valentin Paz.

The Lady Chargers lead 32-5A with a 10-0 record over second-place Valley View at 7-3. Next in the standings come Brownsville Pace and Donna High tied for third place with 5-5 records, followed by Mercedes at 4-6, Edcouch-Elsa at 4-6, Brownsville Porter at 4-6 and Brownsville Lopez at 1-9.

The Brownsville Veterans girls, 28-5 overall and ranked seventh in the Rio Grande Valley, are definitely on a roll. They won in district 71-26 on Tuesday at Mercedes.

“The girls have been playing well defensively and have been unselfish,” Torres said. “They are willing to make the extra pass. They have not been caught up in individual accolades. Instead, they are enjoying the team’s success. As a result, we have had three or four different girls lead us in scoring this season.

“I would just like to say first that everyone on the team has contributed to our success this year,” Torres added. “(With that said,) Lizzie Garza and Bry Buitureira have been (the most) consistent for us offensively, Juju Alvarez has been our floor general, Alex Parchmont has been our defensive leader and Caite Esquivel continues to battle for us down low.”

The Lady Chargers will put their undefeated district record on the line against Valley View at 6 p.m. today at home.

ROAD WIN

The Brownsville Hanna girls picked up a 54-30 District 32-6A victory at Brownsville Rivera on Tuesday that allowed the Lady Golden Eagles to even their conference record at 3-3. They are 17-14 overall.

Tuesday’s victory snapped a two-game losing streak.

The Hanna girls are in the hunt for the playoffs as the fourth-place team in the 32-6A standings behind Harlingen High at 6-0, and Harlingen South and Los Fresnos, both at 4-2. Also, San Benito is 1-5 and Rivera is 0-6.

“We are playing consistently and improving with each game,” Lady Eagles coach Luis Gonzalez said. “Odalys Gonzalez is averaging a double-double for us with 14.1 points and 13 rebounds per game. Sam Ramos, our point guard, is distributing the ball well in our offense. Also, Alexis Alvarez is averaging nine points per game.

“Our bench play is also giving us a spark,” the Hanna coach added.

The Lady Eagles now face a key challenge by playing host to Harlingen High in their next game at 6 p.m. today.

32-4A UPDATE

Hidalgo continues to lead the District 32-4A girls race with a 10-0 record after winning at second-place Rio Hondo 41-37 on Tuesday.

Rio Hondo stayed in second place at 8-2 in district despite the loss and is followed in the 32-4A girls standings by Port Isabel at 7-3, La Feria at 6-4, Zapata at 4-6, Raymondville at 3-7, and Progreso and Grulla, both at 1-9.