BY JON R. LaFOLLETTE | STAFF WRITER
LA JOYA — A year ago, Celeste Saenz spent her freshman year on the McAllen High junior varsity team. Tuesday at La Joya High School, the undersized post was burdened with the task of making up for an absent teammate.
When McHi’s Sydney Pemelton left at halftime due to personal reasons, a lone bucket was her only contribution to the scoreboard. Saenz was called upon to reach Pemelton’s de-facto quota of 10 points.
Mission accomplished. Saenz scored 11 points nine coming during the second half of a 50-37 win over La Joya High. She also contributed four rebounds, an assist and hit two free throws during the fourth quarter to help stave off a Lady Coyotes team who refused to go away.
“Celeste steps it up whenever we need her to” sophomore guard Brianna Coffee said. “I’ve been playing with her since kindergarten. She’s still young, but with more experience, I feel like she’ll be a better player. I can’t wait to see how she plays the older she gets.”
The win improves the Lady Bulldogs’ record to 2-1 in District 30-6A and is a key victory against a La Joya team (1-3) with like-minded playoff aspirations.
Saenz was one in a trio of productive McHi sophomores. Coffee and guard Heaven Wilbanks each scored a game-high 13 points. Junior forward Victoria Alanis was the fourth Lady Bulldog in double digits, scoring 10.
Such even point distribution is the by product of a McHi team absent a go-to scorer. Without a player who can take over a game, Gonzalez is content to get points by any means necessary.
“Every game, I count on at least 40 points from Heaven, Brianna, Sydney and Victoria,” Gonzalez said. “Anything above that is a blessing. But that’s what I look for every game. It doesn’t matter how we get it, although I prefer to see it spread out like it was tonight.”
That balanced attack proved too much for an ill and ill-shooting La Joya team. Forward Daniela Cantu went 1-of-13 from the field, missing several 3-pointers from the corner.
Compounding the Lady Coyotes’ woeful shooting was Ashley Olivarez’s immune system. While coach Rene Zamora spent the timeout before the second quarter on his knees drawing up a play, Olivarez bent over a trash can near the visiting locker room vomiting. Olivarez finished with 7 points and 6 rebounds in limited minutes.
Though Olivarez, the team’s leading scorer, saw sporadic playing time because of the flu, Zamora says Olivarez played out of necessity.
“She’s the only post I have who can do the things she does,” Zamora said. “Plus, this is a game we had to win if we were going to get to the playoffs. I know it’s still early, but we have to take advantage of every opportunity.”
McAllen High took a 7-1 lead during the first quarter and never relinquished its advantage. While Olivarez continued to get sick on the sideline, the Lady Bulldogs trapped and pressed and pushed the ball up the court all the way to a 23-14 halftime lead.
But La Joya hung around due in part to resilient guard play. Monica Garcia and Karina Cassanova finished with 11 and nine points, respectively, and both combined for 15 rebounds. With the possessions, the Lady Coyotes didn’t go away until late in the fourth quarter, when McHi turned the game into a free-throw contest.
“We played sluggish at first,” Gonzalez said. “But as the game went along, we settled down and outran their size. We got out on the break and tried to wear them down, and I think that’s what ended up winning us the game.”