KEVIN NARRO | Staff Writer
LA FERIA—The 89th annual C.E. Vail tournament tips off today with 16 teams taking the hardwood at La Feria High School. Among the 13 of them are from the Rio Grande Valley with Corpus Christi Miller, Kingsville King and West Oso making the trip to the Valley for the three day tournament.
Host team La Feria tips off at 12:30 against the La Feria junior varsity in Gym B. Other area schools include Santa Rosa, Raymondville and Rio Hondo.
The Warriors will begin their tournament with a 3:30 p.m. tilt against Raymondville in Gym A, while Rio Hondo will tussle with La Joya High at 11 a.m. in Gym B.
“It is always fun to host the Vail, it is a long running tournament,” said La Feria coach Dario Sanchez. “It has been around for so long and you see a lot of great teams come in and when you have been a part of it like I have, my dad was a basketball coach and I watched this tournament as a kid and see all the history come through it is awesome.”
The Lions are coming off a loss to Santa Maria on Tuesday and are 2-6 on the season, but were back on the court Wednesday preparing for the Vail.
“For the kids there is a sense of pride being able to host the tournament and our gym is great,” Sanchez said. “It is fun for them to be a part of the atmosphere and history. Santa Rosa, Rio Hondo, Edcouch, West Oso and Miller will be here, Miller will be tough but those are some teams to keep an eye out for.”
One player to keep an eye on will be senior Dorian Hernandez who just completed another strong season on the football field and is looking to cap off his basketball career with the Lions.
“We need to make sure that we play defense and that we are coming over and sliding our feet,” said Sanchez. “I would like to see more intensity when it comes to fighting for loose balls and going up and getting rebounds. Our shots aren’t there yet and I don’t expect them to be there just yet but I do think we can play better defense than we have.”
Rio Hondo has hung tough in several close games through the early part of the season. The Bobcats are 5-5 on the year with four of their losses coming by a margin of 10 points or less.
The Bobcats are led by their big three in senior shooting guard Jabez Villarreal, senior shooting and point guard CJ Leal and sophomore Jonathan Ayala who also plays point guard.
“We are looking to get team chemistry together,” said Rio Hondo coach Mike Alvarez. “We want to do things that don’t show up on the scorebook like taking charges, being aggressive with loose balls. Right now we are trying to get better defensively this tournament as we prepare for district play.”