BY JON R. LaFOLLETTE | STAFF WRITER
EDINBURG — During the third quarter of Friday’s non-district game at Edinburg North High School, Klarissa Lopez connected from behind the arc for the fifth time. Though she would hit one more en route to dropping 26 points on the Mercedes Tigers, this moment was different.
After seeing the ball fall through the net once more, the senior guard got back on defense, but not before pumping her fist and biting her lip in an effort to hide a smile. The game was far from over, but it allowed Lopez a brief moment to gloat. After all, she was the linchpin to the Lady Cougar’s 48-40 win.
“She’s just had a great night,” North coach Jenny Rae Garcia said. “She’s a great shooter, and I know there’s more to come from her as well. The team distributes the ball a lot, but tonight was her night.”
Lopez shot 9-of-14 from the field, collecting four rebounds and committing just one turnover along the way. Whether she was all alone on the wing or hoisting away with a Lady Tiger in her face, she was near automatic.
“I was just relaxing,” Lopez said. “That’s all I keep telling myself when I’m on the court. I just relax and let the game go as it goes and try to keep up the same intensity.”
Intensity was the name of the game for the Lady Cougars from the get-go, especially on the defensive end. North pressed and trapped the under-sized Lady Tigers early and often, taking a 7-0 lead with six points coming off forced turnovers during the first quarter.
A Mercedes timeout proved fruitless as North (11-8) continued stretching the lead. Behind Lopez’s nine first-quarter points on 3-of-3 shooting from downtown, the Lady Cougars were up 18-2. Though the Lady Tigers (12-8) ended the first quarter on a 7-0 run to cut the lead to single digits, coach Monica Meza saw a continuation of an early-season trend.
“It’s kind of been this way with us all season,” the first-year head coach said. “There’s games where we’re moving the ball and playing well, and then there are games where we can’t get much of anything going. We’re just looking for that consistency.”
The first-quarter deficit proved too much for Mercedes, who outscored the Lady Cougars 31-30 for the remainder of the game. Though guards Alyssa Marquez and Jackie Flores each scored 12 points, the Lady Tigers continued to be plagued by turnovers and an inability to solve North’s interior size.
“We were trying to post them up and pass to the cutter, but we got away from that,” Meza said.
Though the teams played a more competitive game during the final three quarters, Mercedes’ offense was never able to match the efficiency of Lopez. Every time the Lady Tigers looked to cut the lead to one or two possessions, Lopez responded.
“She just had so much confidence out there tonight,” North guard Tiffany Chapa said. “She’s a really good shooter who can score in any given game.”
On several occasions in which Mercedes worked their way to the rim, they were met by Cougars post Fernanda Olvera. Though Olvera scored just one bucket, she grabbed 10 rebounds and anchored her team’s half-court defense throughout the evening.
And that’s the real focus for Garcia and her team, who have aspirations of a deep postseason run.
“We want to get to the Sweet 16,” guard Tiffany Chapa “And we know that our defense is going to be key. We just can’t be sloppy. We have to bring that consistency every quarter of every night.”
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