BY SAUL BERRIOS-THOMAS | STAFF WRITER
EDIBNBURG — With 1:16 left in the fourth quarter, and Edinburg High leading PSJA Memorial by 1 point, Edinburg High junior forward Jayla Santa Maria found herself open at the right elbow.
It’s a shot she normally hits, but Santa Maria wasn’t quite right on Saturday. She missed the shot. But, senior forward Natalie Roxburgh grabbed the rebound and put up a shot. She was fouled on the attempt, but it still fell. She hit the free throw to extend the lead to 50-46, and that was enough to secure the win for Edinburg High.
“Natalie does a great job for us,” Edinburg High coach John David Salinas said. “She’s got a lot of energy. She is a three-year letterman for us. She may not put a lot of points on the scorebook, but she makes a difference for us. She was in the right place at the right time. It could have been the turning point of the game, but she executed when we needed it.”
Edinburg High (20-5, 3-0) held on to beat PSJA Memorial (14-11, 2-1) 52-46 in a District 31-6A clash.
Both teams started slow after the extended break for the holidays. Santa Maria finished the game with 6 points, a rarity for the forward who averages 17.6 points per game. Despite the poor offensive showing, Santa Maria still impacted the game on the boards and on defense.
“I think (it could be rust),” Salinas said. “The thing with Jayla is, she didn’t put up a lot of points offensively, or assists or things of that nature, but she brings a lot of other things to the team. She got a lot of rebounds and she was able to pull that number for us. That’s why it’s a team sport. People are allowed to have those off nights once in a while, but if you are not scoring, there are other ways to contribute, and Jayla found those ways.”
The Bobcats found production from other areas, as they have all season, especially when Santa Maria missed 10 games with an injury. Jayla Santa Maria’s younger sister, Jenessah Santa Maria, got the team rolling early, scoring 11 first half points before finishing the game with 15.
“(Jenessah Santa Maria) brought it,” Edinburg High senior guard Emily Acosta said. “She brought it up when she went in. I know she had like 3 or 4 fouls, but at the end she stepped it up, she brought her game at the end.”
Mercedes Hernandez started slow, only netting 5 points before the break. In the second half, though, Hernandez found her groove and was a big part of sealing the win. She finished the game with 16 points.
“Well Mercedes and Jenessah, they are both basically point guards,” Salinas said. “They both played the position before. So, we kind of rotate them in and out from the one guard into the two guard. We utilize their quickness and their ability to handle the ball inside the paint, but yes, Jenessah can create for us, and we open up the floor and allow that to happen.”
PSJA Memorial started off slow, as well. The big problem for the Wolverines was foul trouble. Sophomore forward Debbie Martinez got into foul trouble early in the first half, causing freshman forward Victoria Gonzalez to play more minutes than usual. Gonzalez played well, scoring 6 points in the game and controlling the post. But the freshman also had turnovers and fouls that slowed the Wolverines.
Senior guard Alex Soto came out of the gates on fire, scoring 16 first-half points, including five 3-pointers.
Junior point guard Monique De Leon also played well early, finding Soto for several of those open looks. In the second half, De Leon found herself in foul trouble and sat almost all of the third quarter. The foul trouble of De Leon and Martinez necessitated Soto playing just about every minute of the first three quarters.
“(Soto) was a little exhausted,” PSJA Memorial coach Marisa Gutierrez said. “We had her keep running down the court. It was because we were in foul trouble that we had to make some adjustments, and that hurt us a little bit.”
By the time De Leon and Martinez came back in, the momentum had already started to turn.
Martinez scored 9 points, all in the fourth quarter. Soto only managed one more 3-pointer in the second half, finishing with a game-high 19 points.
Another bright spot for Memorial was junior forward Victoria Hernandez. She was tasked with guarding Jayla Santa Maria for most of the game.
“I am extremely proud of her,” Gutierrez said. “That was our whole game plan, to contain Jayla. I know she is a great, and we tried to contain her as much as possible with our height and speed. I know Victoria is very capable of doing that, and she did a good job of that today.”