McALLEN — As the McAllen High Bulldogs dribbled the ball up the court, Edinburg High point guard Annika Saenz waited patiently at the top of the arc to engage her opponent.
The Bulldogs’ point guard dribbled left and made a cut toward the basket when Saenz and fellow Bobcat Larissa Martinez collapsed toward her defensively and smothered her with a double team. The ball got poked away and after a mad scramble for the loose ball, Saenz came away with it in transition.
She picked up her dribble at the top of the key and fired a bounce pass to shooting guard Julissah Santa Maria, who stormed down court and glided in for an uncontested fast break layup. It was one of many break-away opportunities for Saenz and the Bobcats, who used a tenacious defensive effort and a huge fourth quarter to top McHi 63-39 in the third round of play in the Border Brawl Tournament on Friday afternoon at McAllen High School.
“I think it was realizing that we were the better team the whole time,” Saenz said. “It was coming together passing the ball around and making the right decisions at the right time and boxing out.”
After getting off to a bit of a slow start, McHi actually claimed an early 13-9 advantage with a late scoring run to close out the first quarter. The Bulldogs came out in a zone defense, which gave the Bobcats some trouble initially, and were able to take advantage of the up-tempo pace that it created.
“McHi came out in the 1-3-1 earlier and it was affecting the flow of our offense,” Edinburg High head coach John David Salinas said. “This is the second time we’ve played McHi, and they did a great job early on in taking the lead, keeping it close and we were kind of getting frustrated on our end. I can’t tell you enough about how the girls and my staff have been able to overcome that adversity.”
Edinburg High struggled at first to gain any penetration into the Bulldogs’ 1-3-1 zone and the team’s ball movement stagnated leading to some forced shots.
“In the first half we settled for threes and they weren’t going in,” Bobcats’ forward Leslie Martinez said. “We re-adjusted at halftime, attacked and got open.”
The Bobcats found themselves in early foul trouble in the second quarter, which forced them to change up their scheme defensively with many of their post players being forced to sit.
“We got in a little bit of foul trouble early on, so we had to get out of our man-to-man defense and force McHi to become outside shooters and hit some outside shots,” Salinas said. “We didn’t give them too many opportunities on the offensive boards and drove to the basket. I think once we went into that 2-3 zone, that’s what really benefited us as far as being able to get a little lead and stretch it out.”
McHi struggled mightily in the first half to convert on its free throw opportunities and couldn’t seem to find the range on 3-pointers throughout most of the contest.
The Bulldogs earned more trips to the free throw line in the game than the Bobcats, but sank only 35% of their combined attempts which kept their opponents in the game. Edinburg High made the most of their trips to the charity stripe from the second quarter onward, converting on 16 of 20 free throw attempts.
“That’s very big,” Martinez said. “We practice free throws a lot, especially in crunch time when we really need them.”
The Bobcats maintained their physical zone defense in the second half while sprinkling in a few full-court press sets also to keep the Bulldogs off guard.
“They had to adjust to what we did as a zone,” Martinez said. “We trapped them in the corners, didn’t let them drive and it was boxing out too, getting inside position.”
Edinburg High’s zone look defensively helped force a lot of turnovers and beat McHi on the offensive boards.
The Bobcats forced a combined 13 steals on the afternoon and hauled in 26 rebounds, which changed the tempo of the contest to more of a half-court style of play and gave them more second-chance scoring opportunities.
That half-court style of play greatly benefited Edinburg High, which was able to spread the court, move the ball more effectively and create scoring chances all over the floor.
“We’re an offensive team. We shoot the three and we shoot it very confidently,” Saenz said. “I think it was shooting the three that really helped us, but knowing that we always had that drive there as an option helped us.”
“I think that’s probably our biggest strength. Our top five girls, maybe even six or seven two deep into the bench, all do that well,” Salinas said. “The younger kids that are coming up, they’re all trying to understand that spacing. Once we get everybody on the same page and understanding how all that works, I think it’s going to help us out a lot.”
Guards Genesis Garza and Natacha Butters both played strong second halves for the Bulldogs, but ultimately couldn’t close the gap. The duo combined for 22 points and five assists, while Garza led the team shooting 67% from the field.
Forward Celina Saenz also had a big game for McHi with seven points and 14 rebounds, but fouled out in the fourth.
Meanwhile, Saenz and Martinez led the way offensively for the Bobcats with each finishing with a team-high 19 points. Santa Maria was also an x-factor for Edinburg High, tallying 13 points, a team-high seven rebounds and three steals.
The win lifts the Bobcats to 10-0 on the season and they look to be clicking on all cylinders, which Saenz credits to their cohesion as a team.
“I think it was our chemistry right from the go,” she said. “We love each other and play hard for each other. It’s not about individual things, but working together as a team.”