BY NATHANIEL MATA | STAFF WRITER
RIO GRANDE CITY — Laredo United South throttled Edinburg Vela at home by 26 points Dec. 4, but the early December meeting had very few similarities to Friday’s area round playoff game between the SaberCats and Panthers.
Vela took command for a 64-53 win over United South at Rio Grande City High School.
Noah Sekinger, who missed his team’s first game against the Panthers with an ankle injury, was a force in the low post, scoring 19 points.
“There was a lot of motivation because we’ve played a lot of ball games since that time. We played close to 20 since we’ve played them,” Sekinger said. “We’ve just grown a lot defensively, offensively and gelled so much more as a team. We didn’t want to go home tonight. We knew that if we played together and played the way that we’ve been playing we were going to beat this team.”
Vela started strong but was not dominant enough to put away the Panthers in the early going. Sekinger had nine first-quarter points and Kaleb Coronado had five to give the SaberCats a boost.
United South used a pair of 3s and four points from their shifty point guard, Chuy Trevino to stay within arm’s length of Vela.
A resilient Panthers tear, however, took a 28-27 halftime lead into the locker room.
That didn’t discourage the District 31-6A co-champion SaberCats.
“That’s a well-coached ball club,” SaberCats coach Lucio Rodriguez said. “We knew they were going to be a tough team. It took some adjustment, it took some growing pains, but we’re here now.”
Vela sputtered with turnovers and picked up fouls out of the third-quarter gate, but, United South was not crisp out of the break either.
The SaberCats, however, were able to find their footing again.
Sekinger had two fouls in the first half and was called for his third early in the third quarter. Thanks to the deployment of Kobe Gibson in his absence, and a smart game from Sekinger to avoid more whistles, he remained effective.
“Over the years I’ve learned when you pick up some fouls, you have to know how the refs are calling the game…what fouls they called before and try not to put yourself in the same situations,” Sekinger said. “When you do get put in a tough defensive spot, you need to put yourself in position to make the right play: hands up, chest out and more often than not you won’t pick up another foul.”
Part of the frustration for United South, who knocked off McAllen Rowe in the bi-district round, was not being able to move the ball around at will to center Miguel Martinez or allow Trevino to dominate as a slasher.
Trevino finished with 25 points but his lowest scoring quarters were the first with two and the third with three. He scored 14 in the final frame, but most came when the game was out of reach.
“Kaleb (Coronado) really stepped up on defense on their best player, their senior (point guard Trevino) and Austin (Garza) did a great job,” Vela junior Bobby Espericueta said. “We knew defense was going to get us to the third round. Coach keeps pressuring it at practice and they really stepped up big tonight.”
The third quarter is where Vela imposed its will and did a lot to secure the win, outscoring United South 15-9 in the period.
Espericueta nailed two second-half 3s to bring the Vela fans to their feet. Vela was money at the line to score 22 points and squash any comeback efforts.
Coronado finished with 15 points, Espericueta had 10.
Up next for Vela is a third-round matchup against Laredo United, another team the SaberCats are familiar with. The Longhorns have topped the SaberCats twice in two meetings: once in the November season opener and again Dec. 29.
United defeated Weslaco High 31-27 in the area round.
“I think we’ve learned to just come out tougher on defense,” Sekinger said. “The want and the desire is just there. I know none of us want to go home on Tuesday, that’s going to be the bottom line difference. The past two times they were more ready and fired up. This time we’re going to come out ready to play.”
Details of the game are yet to be determined.