BY NATE KOTISSO | STAFF WRITER
HIDALGO — The Pirates were the only Valley team left in the third round of the 2018 UIL Class 4A playoffs.
The Pirates’ standard had been re-established. Hidalgo’s third-round playoff run was its longest since the 2009 team qualified for the UIL state semifinals when the Pirates were a Class 3A school. But Hidalgo lost its do-everything point guard Ashley Arjona, who averaged a near quadruple-double in 2017-18 (8.4 points, 6.9 rebounds, 12.2. assists, 8.6 steals), to graduation.
Arjona’s departure opened the door for senior forward Barbie Gutierrez to step into a leadership role this season.
“We lost a lot of talent with (twins) Ashley and Alexis (Arjona), but girls like Savannah (Sanchez), our point guard, are more experienced because we went to the third round,” Gutierrez said. “We had a good team last year, but I think we can be just as good as we were. Maybe better.”
The start of district play has been good to Gutierrez, who is averaging 20.3 points through six contests in District 32-4A. One of those performances included a 33-point outing in a 95-17 thrashing of Progreso on Dec. 21.
“My mind is thinking about going to the basket,” Gutierrez said. “I know it’s defense first, but we have that eagerness to go and attack the basket on offense. Our full-court press leads us to steals, which leads us fast-break points at the basket.”
“Barbie has brought a lot of energy to our program,” Hidalgo coach Saul Arjona said. “She goes all out, non-stop. That’s one thing I like about her. Her hustling and way of finishing around the basket is great. She never complains about getting fouled. She just plays and her teammates recognize that. As soon as she walks onto a court, she’s like a magnet. She has the attention of our girls. Everybody works hard around her.”
Gutierrez has been on the varsity roster since the start of her freshman year.
“On the first day of practice, I wasn’t looking to be on the varsity team. Then coach (Arjona) comes and tells me that I made it on the varsity team,” Gutierrez said. “I had only played basketball since the seventh grade, so varsity ball in ninth grade was completely different. I was lost sometimes. When coach told us we needed to foul in a situation, I didn’t understand why we had to foul. Little things like that, but I’ve come a long way since then.”
“When she was a freshman, she averaged around 11 points per game and now she’s averaging 20 in our district,” Arjona said. “When you run, you’re going to get points. She’s one of those girls who can get a rebound for us, run the floor and Savannah does a good job of finding her. Now, Barbie’s starting to get confident shooting from the outside. It’s a pretty shot and I’ve told her that she needs to use it, especially going up against taller girls. It’s good for us.”
The Pirates (26-4) are 6-0 with the first-half of district games ending Friday when they host a much-improved Zapata (15-7, 5-1) club at 6:30 p.m.
Hidalgo won District 32-4A outright in 2017-18, but did so after dropping the district opener and winning the next 13 contests in a row.
“We want to be undefeated, but we’re treating every game from here on out as a playoff game. I think it will help us get ready when the playoffs come around,” Arjona said. “The girls are playing hard, and I know our district is playing us tough so far, too. I thought playing a lot of 6As and 5As in non-district were tough, but the 4As we have are pretty competitive. This will make us a lot better.”