BY SAUL BERRIOS-THOMAS | THE MONITOR
EDINBURG — Edinburg North has played Brownsville Pace three times this year.
The Cougars lost the first two, but when the two teams met last Saturday in the final of the City of Palms Tournament at McAllen Rowe, it was North that got the upper hand.
Since then, the Cougars beat a very tough La Joya High team in overtime and opened District 31-6A with a win over PSJA North.
The Cougars have won five straight, and they have won eight of their last nine games.
“We are starting to get a lot of our players back,” North coach Rudy Garcia said. “We had a lot of injuries. But, the kids have been stepping up and playing well, especially this past tournament. We had a lot of guys in the second group playing.”
The contribution off the bench was huge for the Cougars, who have been shuffling the lineup to accommodate the steady stream of injuries and trickle in of football players finally getting healthy.
“What is clicking for us right now is a lot of bench players hitting shots off the bench,” senior guard Ben Vela said. “We just stick together. Good team chemistry.”
Vela was one of the players to shoulder the extra workload. He is a reliable shooter who averages 4.2 points and 1.3 rebounds per game. He has had to do a bit more in recent games, as the team has continued to recover.
He even picked up a black eye in the final against Pace.
Just as with Pace, North lost a game to McAllen Rowe earlier this year, but in the tournament this weekend they also exacted revenge against the Warriors.
It’s not just the wins starting to add up for the Cougars, they have played some of the best competition in the Valley.
“Like I said we had a lot of injuries, we were starting different lineups every game,” Garcia said. “But I purposely had a very tough schedule. We played Alexander, Rowe, Los Fresnos, people like that. We took our lumps, but I kept telling the boys ‘every time we play, it’s a team that is going to make us better for district.’”
That mentality has definitely spread to Garcia’s players. Junior guard Andrew Nunez is averaging 11.6 points per game. Nunez also averages 5.5 rebounds and 2.9 assists. Having played in 19 games this year, Nunez has seen the improvement of late, but he also lived through the tough start.
“We were just trying to stay positive,” Nunez said. “Most of us, at times, we get down and we get fed up. We are here to help each other, knowing we are playing tough teams to get ready for district. We just stay positive, keep working and in the end we will be on top.”
The Cougars are young, typically starting only one or two seniors, while surrounding them with sophomores and juniors.
Along with Vela and Nunez, very few other Cougars got varsity experience last year. Junior forward Ricky Alaniz, sophomore forward Izaiah Rangel and senior forward Josias Vasquez all played varsity last year. Rangel and Vasquez share the post duties.
Rangel played for the Cougars football team in the fall. An injury forced him to miss the last few games, but it also allowed him to get onto the basketball team a bit quicker than the other football players. Rangel used that advantage to excel on the court.
“It took him a couple of weeks to get into basketball mode,” Garcia said. “He’s been doing really well. He’s a big part of our team. He’s a big guy inside for us, and he can play outside also.”
Rangel is averaging 10.3 points, a team-high 6.9 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 1.5 steals, and 1.7 blocks per game.
While many of the Cougars’ injuries were not major this year, there was one blow that hurt. Junior point guard Noah Chavana suffered a knee injury that will keep him out for the rest of the season at least. Chavana’s slick ball-handling skills will be missed, as will his leadership and experience on the court.
“It’s kind of tough because he was one of our main passers,” Rangel said. “He would dish the ball. But since he’s been out we have had to adjust.”
Still there is no denying that the Cougars are improving. That improvement coincides with the return to almost full health, which coincidentally is coming at the same time that the team will get a UIL-mandated five-day break.
“We are a great team and every day we are working,” Nunez said. “Our mentality is to come back. After we take an ‘L,’ we are like ‘alright now, let’s come back and work harder and get them back.’ We had the opportunity in the tournament, and we showed them that we are here to stay and that we are here to play.”