By JOSHUA McKINNEY, Staff Writer
The Porter Cowboys’ playoff drought is over after a win in their district finale Tuesday.
Porter topped Edcouch-Elsa 66-46 during a District 32-5A game at Porter to take the district’s fourth and final playoff spot in the teams’ district finale.
The Cowboys haven’t been to the postseason since their fourth-round run in 2012-13.
“It’s was a much-needed win. We all wanted to go to the playoffs,” Porter guard Rey Martinez said. “We took a loss to Mercedes, and that loss kind of fueled our energy to want more. We didn’t want to lose and rely on a chance, leave it up to hope.”
“We needed this win,” Martinez added. “We didn’t let up on defense, even though on offense we did let up in the second quarter. But when we came back, we didn’t let up. We kept on pushing and going. This is where it takes us. Now we’re heading to the playoffs.”
Porter coach Luis Garza admits the last three seasons haven’t gone as planed, but a postseason return makes it all a little easier.
“I’m really happy. I’m going to pitch myself right here because I’ve gotten many rewards coaching, but this was by far the hardest three years of my career, just getting in because we swept Donna,” Porter coach Luis Garza said. “I’m really happy for these guys. It’s a big turnaround. It’s a big win for us. We were able to bounce back after the second and third quarters. It almost feels better than the other runs, and we’ve had good ones.”
The Cowboys dominated on both sides of the court during the first quarter, jumping out to an 8-0 lead halfway through the first and closing the first with a 19-0 lead.
Porter played with a emphasis on shutting down Edcouch-Elsa’s dangerous three-point shooters.
“Defensively, we knew they were going to shoot the ball,” Garza said. “We really stressed switching on everything, which we usually don’t like to do. Basically, we said, ‘Let’s stick with our man but switch on everything.’ And we basically got to believe that this is our house and teams can’t shoot like Mercedes did the other day. We can’t allow that, and that was basically the key. The motivation of staying on the shooters and knowing what they were going to do.”
Edcouch-Elsa’s offense showed signs of life early in the second, when Jessie Granados finally put his team on the board with a bucket early in the second to start a 9-2.
The Yellowjackets scored 22 points during the second quarter to close the gap to 10 points at halftime and outscored Porter 12-10 in the third quarter to pull within eight by the start of the fourth quarter.
“The boys played hard, and that’s our style,” Edcouch-Elsa coach Robert Capello said. “It was just a matter of time before we got started. As you can tell, they started back, they played hard and aggressive. They made some shots.”
Mark Morones hit a 3 at the start of the fourth to make it a 42-37 game, but Martinez and Andres Fragoso scored back-to-back buckets to ignite a 16-2 run that safely put the game away.
“During the third and fourth quarter, I could tell my team was getting tired,” Martinez said. “In the fourth quarter, they were making a comeback on us. I want to be a leader, and my mentality is that I’m not going to let my team lose. I’ll hustle. I’ll sit down and take a seat and come off the floor. I’ll do what it takes to help my team win, to make an impact. I think I helped my team get the W.”
Erick Menendez finished as Porter’s leading scorer with 14 points. Mike Reyes scored 10 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and had three steals. Martinez scored eight points, had eight rebounds and seven assists.
Granados had a game-high 14 points for Edcouch-Elsa. J.J. Flores scored nine points, and Marco Aguinaga scored eight, had five assists and five rebounds.
Porter is slated to meet up with Edinburg Vela in the bi-district round of the playoffs. The time, date and location are yet to be determined.
Joshua McKinney covers high school sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him at (956) 982-6663 or via email at [email protected]. On Twitter, he’s @joshuabvherald.