BY JON R. LaFOLLETTE | STAFF WRITER
EDINBURG — Edinburg Vela’s turbulent season paid dividends when it mattered most.
After taking their lumps during a year wherein key players missed significant time with injuries, the Lady SaberCats entered Tuesday’s bi-district game against Mercedes well-versed in finding ways to win.
Holding just a one-point lead over the Lady Tigers heading into the fourth quarter, Vela’s resolve helped it acquire buckets down the stretch to keep Mercedes at bay for a 41-37 victory. The win sets up an area round contest against Victoria East at a time and place to be determined
today.
Both teams played a tight game from start to finish. The biggest lead of eight points was notched by Mercedes during the first quarter, when the Lady Tigers opened on an 8-0 run thanks in part to back-to-back corner 3s from senior guard Alyssa Marquez.
But Vela responded with a 6-0 run of its own, setting the tone for the game’s back-and-forth nature.Mercedes led 14-11 after the first quarter behind hot-handed shooting. Of the Lady Tigers’ five first-quarter field goals, four came from downtown.
But Mercedes’ long-range attack mostly vanished the rest of the game after Vela switched from a 1-3-1 into a 3-2 zone. The Lady Tigers made just two 3-pointers the rest of the way.
“They like to shoot a lot,” Vela coach Lottie Zarate said. “They like to take the ball inside and kick it back out. We wanted to eliminate both of those components and force them to take tough shots.”
Mercedes, an undersized team, struggled to get clean looks inside against a taller Vela squad. The few open shots it got at the rim often came in transition off steals. Junior guard Jacklynn Flores scored six of her nine points doing just that.
Though Vela had a size advantage, it failed to completely dominate the paint. Posts Bianca Cortez and Brittany Escobar cleaned the glass, but combined to go 1-of-8 from the field during the first half, leaving easy points on the board during a game in which every possession counted.
Consistent post play arrived during the second quarter in the form of Terri Garza, who scored six points in that time on 3-of-3 shooting. She finished with eight points.
“I always get really nervous before games,” Garza said.
“I get really nervous and excited, and every time I touch the ball something bad happens. But tonight, I just calmed down and let everything come to me. I just played my game.”
Leading 31-30 with eight minutes to play, Vela opened with a 6-0 run during a frantic stretch of play that saw both teams commit their share of turnovers.
Mercedes didn’t score in the fourth quarter until a Victoria Anciso free throw with 3:15 left. Though the Lady Tigers’ press defense turned into a few more transition layups, the clock expired to end a historic season for Mercedes, which went undefeated in district for the first time in program history.
“We struggled to make midrange shots,” Mercedes coach Monica Meza said.
“When you can’t box out or crash the boards, you make it very difficult on yourself. Unfortunately, that’s the way it went for us tonight.”