BY KEVIN LU | SPECIAL TO THE MONITOR
EDINBURG — It came down to a final bounce in a 35-33 win for the Edinburg Economedes girls’ basketball team against Edinburg High on Tuesday night that was a must-win for the Lady Jaguars.
With the game knotted at 33 with six seconds left, the Jaguars (16-13, 5-5 District 31-6A) inbounded from underneath their basket. Leading scorer Silvia Perez took the pass about eight feet from the rim and got the shot off. It bounced high off the rim and fell in for the game-winning shot.
“We wanted to set it up for our point guard Emily (Suarez),” Economedes coach Mariana Campos said. “It didn’t work that way on the inbounds; they really got a hand in her face. Fortunately, we got it to Sylvia, who’s just a good spot shooter, and it just fell in.”
It kept Economedes alive for a District 31-6A playoff berth. The Lady Jaguars, Edinburg High and Weslaco East are fighting for the two last postseason spots in the league with two games left in the regular season.
Perez had a game-high 18 points. Suarez had four points and had several good looking assists, although she left the game temporarily to treat a bloody nose that Campos said has been a recurring issue all season.
“I think we knew coming in here it was going to be a dogfight. We knew it was going to be a close game,” Campos said. “I would’ve liked to see our offense produce more, because we’ve done that against some really tough teams.”
Economedes entered Tuesday’s game averaging 54 points in district play. Edinburg High’s zone defense held the Jaguars’ offense to its lowest point total since November.
The Bobcats (22-11, 5-5) settled for 3-point shots most of the night, going 6 of 37 from deep. Edinburg High was paced by Mercedes Hernandez with nine points.