By JOSHUA McKINNEY, Staff Writer
The future starts now for Los Fresnos, and this year’s district title is the result of what is shaping up to be a basketball powerhouse thanks to the play of two dynamic sophomores.
Andrew Carrizales and Jordan Urbina have contributed to Los Fresnos’ second straight district title run (Los Fresnos shared the title with Harlingen South and Hanna last season) in big ways.
“The future’s bright,” Los Fresnos coach Marco Hinojosa said. “Those two sophomores, Andrew and Jordan, are special kids. They’re prime-time players. They’re franchise players. I don’t know what else to say. At the end of the day, they’re good kids in the classrooms, top of their class and they’re fun to be around. They have it all. It’s not just basketball. I love hanging around them.
“The future is bright with those two kids, and with Albert Alarcon coming back and Danny Garcia, we’ve got a lot of pieces,” Hinojosa added. “We’ll be OK for the next couple of years.”
Neither player is afraid to take deep shots, a staple of Los Fresnos’ offensive game along with pushing the ball up the court as fast as possible.
“We play fast,” Carrizales said. “We just push the ball and shoot. Most of them end up being 3s.”
The two guards are solid on both ends of the court and athletic, capable of locking down their man on defense and draining shots from anywhere on offense.
Carrizales has averaged 10.8 points and 2.5 assists in district games this season but considers himself a defense-first player.
“I like to put defense before offense,” Carrizales said. “Just like the whole team. Coach preaches defense, and our defense brings our offense (in the game).”
Urbina does a little bit of everything, leading the teams in steals (3.8 per game) and assists (4.3 per game).
The heir apparent to Los Fresnos’ point guard position relishes his role as a shot creator.
“I like to assist the ball,” Urbina said. “I like to get my teammates open so they can have shots and get shots open. At the same time, I like to get open.”
But it’s basketball smarts that make Carrizales and Urbina great players.
“The IQ of these two kids, I want to say, is up there with the best of them,” Hinojosa said. “They know and they anticipate things before they happen. They’ve got quick hands. They’re just smart kids. From the classroom to the floor, it all translates. That’s what they have. IQ of the game.”
Their knowledge of the game comes from experience beyond their years. Carrizales and Urbina came off the bench as freshman for last season’s co-district champions and also played together for local traveling basketball team.
Starting for one of the Rio Grande Valley’s top teams didn’t faze them.
“I wasn’t nervous (at the start of the season) because me and ’Drew play on a traveling team,” Urbina said. “Our chemistry was there. We have the experience of playing against bigger guys, so when play varsity we’re used to the competition and the size.”
Joshua McKinney covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him at (956) 982-6663 or via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @joshuabvherald.