BY NATE KOTISSO | THE MONITOR
EDINBURG — Facing a 12-point halftime deficit, Edinburg Vela forced Brownsville Veterans into turnovers and cashed in on fast-break opportunities, fueling a 13-2 run over the first three minutes of the third quarter to pull the SaberCats within a point.
“We were playing at home, so I told the girls at halftime to have some pride,” Edinburg Vela assistant coach Monica Rodriguez, who stepped in for head coach Lottie Zarate on Saturday, said. “We needed to pick up our defense, and we did.”
With under 2 1/2 minutes to go in the third, Edinburg Vela (8-2) junior guard Julia Cordon stole a pass and missed a fast-break layup that would have given the SaberCats their first lead of the half. Vela, however, would not get any closer to Brownsville Veterans, which won on the road going away 64-49 on Saturday afternoon.
“They made their shots, we missed ours, and they flat outhustled us,” Rodriguez said. “We came out there and won the third quarter, but you can’t win just one quarter and expect to win the game, especially against a good team like Brownsville Veterans.”
Guard Hannah Meyers led the way for the Chargers with 21 points. Twelve of Meyers’ points came in the second half against Vela, the co-champions of District 31-6A last season.
“I think of every road game as just another team we’re going to play,” Meyers said. “I don’t try to hype the game or myself up, because that might make me nervous. Every game is a new game.”
Meyers is one of two seniors on Veterans’ roster.
“We’re starting to come together as a team, because we were all over the place offensively and defensively,” Meyers said.
“I feel like this year is mostly about making our younger teammates better, because we’re a young team. It’s not really about us anymore. It’s about bringing up the next team for the next four years, because that’s who will be here.”
Brownsville Veterans coach Valentin Paz graduated a lot of talent from last season’s team, which won 30 games and went undefeated in district play. Paz sees Saturday’s win as a confidence booster for the Chargers (5-10).
“We’ve only got two seniors, and the rest are sophomores,” Paz said. “We look at four different factors when we evaluate our team, and they say our record should be better than what it is. What we were lacking most was our defense this year. Today, the way we played defense wound up being the difference in the game.”