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.