By ANDREW CRUM, Staff Writer
Brownsville Veterans Memorial’s Hannah Meyers never played like a freshman.
Meyers averaged 7.9 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 1.5 steals per game and was named one of the District 32-6A newcomers of the year during her first year on varsity for the Lady Chargers. She helped them win 26 games during the season and compile a 12-2 record in district, a runner-up finish and a postseason berth.
For her outstanding season, Meyers has been named The Brownsville Herald’s 2015 All-Metro Newcomer of the Year.
“I feel proud of myself,” she said. “It’s a good feeling to know I’m (at the varsity level) as a freshman. But I know I still need to develop parts of my game.”
For the second straight season, Brownsville Veterans coach Valentin Paz is the Brownsville Herald’s 2015 All-Metro Coach of the Year.
Paz led the Lady Chargers to their second straight season as district runner-up and increased their overall and district win totals from one season ago.
“It’s all the girls work that they put in,” he said. “They asked John Wooden what’s your secret of winning, he said, ‘I have the best players.’ When you have three of the top players in the Metro-area, not to mention the rest of the team, it’s hard not to win. This (award) is just a bi-product of them.”
Meyers started part-time earlier during the season and eventually moved to the starting lineup full-time. The coaches wanted to add extra firepower to help the starting five.
“Coach (Nubia) De La Fuente and I talked about making a switch to increase our scoring and lighten the load on Jordan (Rudd),” Paz said. “Sickness and injuries throughout the year led to her becoming a starter and it was a natural transition. She fell right into the spot.”
And her ability to go to the rim was what the Lady Chargers needed on offense.
“She’s very aggressive with the ball, she loves to attack the basket,” Paz said. “Which created another scorer on the floor.”
The confidence Paz had in his freshman, allowed her game to blossom.
“It was a privilege (to start),” Meyers said. “I like having the confidence from Coach (Paz) knowing I can do whatever he needs me to do.”
The Lady Chargers have now won three consecutive newcomer of the year awards, starting with Briana Cortez, followed by Rudd last season and now Meyers. But even Paz didn’t think his freshman would develop as quickly as she did.
“I thought this kid was going to have the potential to be good, but I didn’t think it was going to be this quick,” he said. “I’m happy for her, what she was able to accomplish and hopefully (there is) more in the future.”
As for the Brownsville Veterans coach, he continued to reserve credit for his players and staff.
“I’m blessed to have Jordan, Briana and Hannah,” he said. “I’m blessed to have the best assistant in the Valley in Coach De La Fuente. That’s why this team wins, it’s not because of Coach Paz. I just try to organize it and manage it, the girls put in the work.
“I’m happy for what we’ve done, but I feel our journey isn’t complete.”
Andrew Crum covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him at (956) 982-6629 or via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @andrewmcrum.