BY SAUL BERRIOS-THOMAS | THE MONITOR
PHARR — Coming into the final game of the Tri-City Classic with his team down a man, Edinburg High junior forward Antoine Woodard knew he would have to have a big game.
“Not just me, as a player, by myself, but everybody on the team had to step up because Marc (Figueroa) was out,” Woodard said. “Especially Jorge Hernandez, he had to do what he does as a sixth man, but also step up at a time like this when we have a player out. He did what we needed him to do and came in to play good defense.”
Woodard scored 11 points by halftime and finished with 17 to lead his team to a tournament championship with a 50-48 win over Laredo United South. Woodard was named All-Tournament MVP.
“We had seen them in pool play, Thursday,” Edinburg coach Esequiel Cuellar said. “We won by 16. But, coming into this ball game, I knew it was going to be a little tougher. It’s tough to play a team twice in three days and expect some of the same stuff we did early in the first game to work. I told them, ‘It’s going to be tough. It gets tougher.’ I think going into the locker room, we knew we could have done better. We were very doubtful on offense in the first half. I think we got a little relaxed in the second half, and we looked for each other in the second half. That made the game a little easier for us.”
When the two teams faced off in pool play, Edinburg also took that matchup 78-67. That first look really helped senior center Jesus Cantu, who was tasked with guarding the much taller Joel Johnson of Laredo United South.
“Yeah, I had seen the looks they were going to give us,” Cantu said. “When we played them earlier, it helped us familiarize ourselves with them, and what they usually run.”
Johnson went off early, scoring the Panthers’ first seven points. But after he was subbed out, he never really found his rhythm again.
“We just switched our big guys, Antoine and Jesus,” Cuellar said. “We had to go to that look, because Antoine had gotten into foul trouble. We couldn’t leave him with the same guy. The other guy was being more aggressive, so we switched that and put Jesus on him.”
Once Cantu started guarding Sergio Vela, defending became more simplified for the frontcourt duo for Edinburg.
“(Johnson) is a good player,” Woodard said. “Jesus and I play on an AAU team. We travel, and we go play against really tough competition in Houston, San Antonio and Las Vegas. So, this was a challenge, but not the biggest challenge, so we just had to do what we do.”
Woodard and Cantu, an All-Tournament Team selection, both came into the game fired up.
“Jesus had a heck of a tournament,” Cuellar said. “He easily could have been the MVP, if it weren’t for Antoine’s play. Him and Antoine compliment each other very well. He does so much for us around the paint. He is a great guy on and off the floor. He is very unselfish player. That’s what Jesus brings to our game on top of hitting those midrange shots and being a great defender. He is a great rim protector and does it all for us.”
Cantu scored 14 points, including the first four for Edinburg to get the team rolling.
“It’s great to have started the game off on a run instead of the other way around,” Cantu said. “Yesterday, we started one of the games off on a 15-0 run, and that just led us throughout the whole game.”
Figueroa, a junior guard, sat out the tournament final due to the flu. In his stead, Hernandez, a plucky sophomore, was called on to start. Hernandez totaled six points, but his efforts went far beyond the box score.
“Jorge hadn’t played much,” Cuellar said. “Jorge did a tremendous job for us. It doesn’t show in the stats, but his defensive presence, his pressure on ball against the better players on the opposite teams, he did a tremendous job. He got it done, and we are very proud of him on that.”
Woodard was the star, though. When his team needed a basket, he found a way. He also did his part on defense, coming up with steals and helping to limit Johnson.
The Tri-City Classic marked the second tournament win for the Bobcats. On Dec. 3, they won the Craig Smith Classic. Now, the Bobcats head into the holiday season with two trophies.
“We are feeling really confident,” Woodard said. “Coming into district play, we just have to keep doing what we have been doing and just keep it going.”
“It feels pretty good,” Cantu added. “It helps us, especially as we head into district. It helps that we are rolling now.”
Edinburg doesn’t use very many players off the bench. During the championship game on Saturday, Cuellar sat Woodard for four minutes due to foul trouble, and got the young Hernandez about a minute on the bench during the fourth quarter. Other than that, the starters played the entire of the game. So after anther long weekend featuring six games in three days, the Bobcats were focused on some much needed rest and recovery.
“It’s pretty exhausting playing six games in three days,” Cantu said. “I’m definitely going to take an ice bath when we get back to school. But it will feel just a little bit better with this win.”