SAUL BERRIOS-THOMAS | STAFF WRITER
McAllen Rowe boys basketball coach Jose Luis Yebra picked up career win No. 500 on Friday.
Rowe (18-5, 2-0) beat La Joya Palmview 39-36 in a District 30-6A game at McAllen Rowe.
“One of my favorite moments of the night — after of course getting the win — was seeing my wife and my kids there,” Yebra said. “You never expect that you are going to get to this point. You never think that you can win 500 games. You look back and you might have said you want to have a successful career, but never in your wildest dreams do you think you are going to get to 500 wins. My family, my wife and my kids. Seeing them, that was a special moment.”
The game was made more interesting because La Joya Palmview’s coach is Andy Saenz.
“Palmview played a great game,” Yebra said. “They came to play. Andy is one of my former players who had a lot to do with those 500 wins, too.”
Another former player of Yebra’s, Marco Hinojosa, now coaches at Los Fresnos. Hinojosa had an earlier game, so he made the trip over to Rowe to see Yebra hit the milestone.
“When I look back at when I first started at Lopez high school, he was one of my first freshman,” Yebra said of Hinojosa. “It was very exciting to see him there, and to see a lot of my former players there celebrating with us. That’s what I told our kids. It’s about the players that have played for our program, and it’s about the assistant coaches. I had some great coaches that helped me obtain this milestone.”
POWERFUL DUO LEADING SHARYLAND HIGH
A pair of seniors has been leading the Sharyland High boys basketball team this season. The duo of guard Sean Tucker and forward Kale Cator have proven to be two of the most talented players in District 31-5A.
For much of his career, Cator had played with his back to the basket in the low post. His athleticism allowed him to flourish in the role and put up big numbers, but the fit wasn’t quite right. This year, Sharyland coach David Keith made a decision to help the forward.
The Rattlers (7-13, 4-3) have played much of this year without focusing on the low post. The move has allowed Cator to play facing the basket. Last year, Cator averaged just 3.7 points per game. This year he is averaging 11.1.
“Once we got him facing the basket, his offensive game started to pick up and his defense started to pick up,” Keith said. “He’s gotten better every game, every day really. He’s getting better and better. He’s just a tremendous athlete with an incredible work ethic.”
Perhaps a counterintuitive figure, Cator’s rebounds per game have gone up from 3.2 last year to 6.3 this year.
The second half of the duo, Tucker, has had a tremendous season. He is currently third in The Rio Grande Valley with 17.4 points per game.
“I hope you can understand I am a little biased, but this is my 11th year as a head coach and 18th overall,” Keith said. “Throughout those years I’ve seen good guards come through our school and other schools. This kids ranks up there. At least right now, I would say he is one of the top three guards in the Valley.”
Tucker has been unstoppable at times this season, and he’s not even playing his natural position.
“He’s forced to play the point guard position, because we don’t have anyone else who can handle the ball,” Keith said. “But, he is a natural two.”
Tucker found success last year running off screens and getting open without the ball. This year he has had to create his own shot. But, that hasn’t slowed him at all.
“There isn’t anybody we have met, from here to San Antonio, that can stop him in a one-on-one situation,” Keith said. “They are sending multiple helpers to stop his penetration. And if you don’t close out on his shot, he’s shooting right around 53-54 percent from the 3-point line, which is incredibly amazing. His shot selection, his IQ, is high. He can shoot lights out.”
Sharyland beat Rio Grande City 57-53 on Friday.
DONNA HIGH STARTING TO GEL
The Donna High girls basketball team entered the year with a roster full of seniors and sophomores. It took some time for the team to start to click. The non-district schedule had ups and downs.
The Redskins, however, hit their stride at just the right time, and have been on a roll ever since.
“The first district game against Mercedes, we came out really flat,” Donna High coach Kevin Kromer said. “We didn’t score in the first quarter. That was the worst quarter of our season. And they just kind of flipped a switch in the second quarter. We played even with them the rest of the way. I think we’ve had one quarter since then where we scored single digits. I don’t know what it was. I didn’t say anything to them. I think the maturity just clicked. They didn’t like the way they were playing. They decided to relax, free themselves up and start playing a little more relaxed.”
Senior forward Alex Cantu played a role in that. Cantu is one of the leaders on the team. She, along with the other seniors, decided to step up and get the team on track.
The Redskins (4-1 in District 32-5A) are coming off of a 47-44 win over Donna North on Friday. As the attention turns towards finishing out the season, Kromer says the focus is on the little things.
“We are focused on our offense,” Kromer said. “We are cutting down on turnovers and correcting little mistakes here and there on defense. We are trying to make it better everyday, trying to make everything better, and eliminate as many errors as possible.”
GROWING PAINS
The Progreso girls basketball team graduated seven seniors last year.
Then they brought in coach Lydia De Leon.
The combination of a new coach and a young team has meant the team has had to fight for all six wins this year. But, it doesn’t mean that the season is a waste.
De Leon came in right away and wanted to make the team better.
“The first thing was seeing what kind of talent we have here,” De Leon said. “Instead of focusing on the wins, I am telling the girls to focus on the progress. What we are doing to get better.”
The young team has been led by junior forward Sydney Alaniz. Alaniz is averaging 12.8 points per game. Alaniz has contributed with more than just points, though.
“Everybody feeds off of her, and you can tell,” De Leon said. “When she has a bad game, we tend to have a bad game with her, and vice versa.”
The focus has been on remaining positive. That can be very tough, especially when the players have to hear about their lack of wins from friends and classmates. But, De Leon has helped the team block out the noise and focus on improving.
“It’s all about positive reinforcement,” De Leon said. “I tell them every day you have to be humble enough to learn, but hungry enough to be the best. We are just trying to get them to pick up good habits. I call the gym the classroom. We go in there, and we learn, and we get better, and that’s all that matters.”
Boys Top 10
1. Edinburg Vela
2. Weslaco High
3. McAllen Rowe
4. PSJA North
5. Los Fresnos
7. Mercedes
8. Brownsville Veterans
10. La Joya High
Girls Top 10
1. Edinburg High
2. Weslaco High
3. Brownsville Veterans
5. McAllen High
6. PSJA North
7. Rio Grande City
8. Mission Veterans
10. Harlingen High