BY SAUL BERRIOS-THOMAS | STAFF WRITER
PHARR — Just over a week ago, the Weslaco High Panthers hadn’t won a tournament since 2010. Now they have two wins in two weeks.
“We are taking the strides to get to where we need to be,” Weslaco coach Gabe Valdez said. “These three tournaments, back-to-back-to-back, have really helped us. We have played a lot of basketball over the last three weeks. Those three — Caleb, Isaiah and Safi — are our soul of this team, coming back from last year. And they have shown over the last few weeks, what they are made of.”
As senior guard Safi Fino-A-Laself sliced and diced his way through the Brownsville Veterans defense, senior guards Isaiah Garcia and Caleb Ybarra added more firepower to the Panthers attack, and the Brownsville Veterans Chargers couldn’t find enough to counter. The Panthers beat the Chargers, 65-43, in the Platinum Bracket final of the PSJA Tri-City Classic tournament Saturday.
Fino-A-Laself scored 22 to lead the Panthers.
“Safi has worked on his game, a lot, over the summer,” Valdez said. “He’s kind of developed into a complete player. He’s got to tweak some things, but he is just Safi, and he does a great job for us. … Him being able to penetrate and pop up, creates so much more for him. Because he is so quick, and he is such a great athlete, it has allowed him to do other things, and get to the basket.”
Fino-A-Laself scored 14 of his 22 points in the second half, allowing the Panthers to pull away from an extremely tough Vets team.
Coming into the final, the Chargers had one of the toughest paths, going through Rio Grande City, Laredo United South and South San Antonio.
Junior forward Damian Maldonado was a force down low for the Chargers, and junior guard Justin Anaya had a game-high 23 points in the final, a sign of how hot he was all tournament long.
“Damian and Anaya, we knew we had to stop those two,” Valdez said. “They are the heart and soul of that team. Coming into tonight, the championship game, we knew we had to limit their touches. We tried as best as we could, they are just great athletes.”
Both Chargers were named to the All-Tournament Team, along with the Rugrats of Weslaco, Ybarra, Garcia and Fino-A-Laself, who won his second tournament MVP award in as many weeks.
“It feels great,” Fino-A-Laself said. “I have worked really hard for this, ever since I was a little kid. It feels good to earn it two times, especially in my senior year.”
Maldonado is one of the bigger players in the Valley, and he is a tough matchup for anyone, let alone a Weslaco team with a ton of inexperience in the frontcourt. Junior Rolando Berrones drew the assignment of guarding Maldonado in some of the biggest stretches of the game, and his teammates loved every minute of it.
“He did a really good job today,” Fino-A-Laself said. “I’ve known Damian for a while, and he is a really good scorer. For Rollie to be able to ‘D’ him up like that, it is amazing. Especially, Rollie is starting to come around, he did really well today.”
“He played great defense,” Garcia added. “He is a tremendous paint protector.”
Ybarra scored 10 points in Saturday’s final.
“Caleb is more of a scorer, but he knows how to put the clamps on anyone,” Fino-A-Laself said. “That is really what we do. He puts his all into that, so we can excel on the offensive end.”
“For us, because they take so many of our shots, Isaiah and Safi, take so much attention offensively,” Valdez said. “They kind of leave Caleb unattended. He stepped it up, and hit some big buckets for us. But Caleb thrives on his defense.”
Garcia scored nine in the final, and sophomore big man JJ Balderas also had nine.
PLUNDERING PIRATES
The Hidalgo Pirates found themselves in the Sliver Bracket on Friday, after a tough first day of the tournament, but Hidalgo hasn’t lost since.
The Pirates cruised through the bracket like a pirate ship through open waters, culminating in a 64-46 win over PSJA Southwest for the title.
Saul Arjona and Gus Sanchez were named to the All-Tournament Team for the Pirates.
THE REST
The Silver Consolation championship went to Weslaco East, which topped Brownsville Hanna 46-35.
The Platinum Consolation championship pitted Edcouch-Elsa against Laredo Martin. After playing their first game at 8 a.m. against the tough defense of Rio Grande City, the Yellow Jackets didn’t quite have their legs in the final game, as Martin won 63-32.
Rounding out the All-Tournament Team were South San Antonio’s Jason Arcorta and Manuel Paredes, Sharyland Pioneer’s Luke Padilla and Eddie Marburger, Harlingen South’s Grant Lowery and PSJA Southwest’s Carlos Hernandez.