AUSTIN — Both the Edinburg High Bobcats and Weslaco High Panthers have cracked the top 10 of the Texas Girls Coaches Association state basketball poll for the week of Dec. 9-15, the organization announced Tuesday morning.
The TGCA ranks the top 25 teams at each classification level weekly. The Bobcats and Panthers are the only two Valley programs at any classification level to be featured in the most recent poll.
Edinburg High (17-2) remains at No. 7 in this week’s poll after going 4-1 a week ago after thumping Donna High in a non-district game 66-31 and securing an impressive fifth-place finish at the North East ISD Tournament in San Antonio.
The Bobcats earned stellar victories over Round Rock, San Antonio East Central and San Antonio MacArthur, while dropping a close 66-61 overtime victory to Harlan, the 25th-ranked team in the state at the 5A level. They started ranked No. 3 in 6A in the TGCA preseason poll.
Weslaco High (18-3) made its debut in the state rankings after a 4-2 week in which it tallied a big 40-16 win over San Benito and a strong showing at the UISD Border Olympics in Laredo over the weekend.
The Panthers topped Laredo Cigarroa, McAllen High and Laredo Alexander, but fell to Corpus Christi Carroll — the state’s 16th-ranked 5A squad — and Harlingen High in the third meeting between the two schools. Harlingen has now taken two of three from Weslaco.
Edinburg High and Weslaco High will play one another twice in the regular season. The Panthers will visit the Bobcats for the first time at 7:30 p.m. on Jan. 10, with the rematch set for 6 p.m. on Feb. 4 in Weslaco.