JON R. LaFOLLETTE | STAFF WRITER
MISSION — McAllen High girls basketball coach Roy Gonzalez fancies an inside-out game. It only took half of that equation to beat the upstart Sharyland Pioneer program Thursday night at Pioneer gym.
The Lady Bulldogs basketball team drained long-range jumpers throughout the evening, cruising to a 63-21 win over the Lady Diamond backs in a season-opening game for both teams.
McHi (1-0) opened the first half by hitting six 3-pointers, amassing a 21-point halftime lead and never looked back.
Senior shooting guard Kathy Maravilla was instrumental for the Lady Bulldogs. She led her team in scoring with 20 points on 7-of-15 shooting. Marravilla also sunk a pair of buckets from behind the arc in addition to collecting three rebounds, two steals and two assists.
Though a single win does not define a long season, Maravilla is nonetheless pleased with the early results.
“We take a lot from this,” Maravilla said. “We see it as a learning experience. This is another step.”
The Lady Bulldogs shot 57 percent from the floor, converting 29-of-51 attempts. Even though the offense was humming for McHi, the team stumbled out of the gate, missing many of their early shots.
“We started a little slow,” Gonzalez said. “Our first quarter was a little rough. Then we got things going from the outside.”
Maravilla wasn’t the only deep threat for McHi. Guard Stacie Solis scored all nine of her points from behind the arc, and back-up guard Erika Mora added a pair of 3-pointers as well.
“Coach talked about us getting our rhythm,” Maravilla said. “Once I start hitting threes, or Stacie hits threes and our whole team comes together, things start happening.”
Despite the sharp-shooting ways of the Lady Bulldogs perimeter players, the team’s interior presence was inefficient. Though senior forward Savanna Weaver scored 15 points, she attempted 14 shots.
“We’re still missing our other big,” Gonzalez said. That other big is Sydney Pemelton, who is in the midst of helping McHi’s volleyball team in post season play. “It’s easy for defenses to key on (Savanna) when it’s just her, but, when you add Sydney; you have to respect all of them.”
Weaver finished the game with six rebounds, one assist and went 6-of-7 from the foul line.
“We’re more of an outside team right now,” Maravilla said. “But once the whole group gets back, we’re going to start getting those shots inside.”
For Pioneer (0-1), it was a different kind of learning process. The Lady Diamondbacks have little in the way of varsity experience, and it showed throughout the evening with sloppy passes leading to easy turnovers, and shots which never touched the rim.
Amanda Alvarado led the team with six points in addition to six boards.