BY SAUL BERRIOS-THOMAS | THE MONITOR
EDINBURG — With less than 20 seconds to play Friday, Edinburg North led Edinburg Vela by five.
Vela had the ball and was looking for a long pass to get an open look. The pass came in, directed at Vela junior center Noah Sekinger.
“I just saw the pass coming in and jumped in front of it,” North senior guard Ben Vela said.
As soon as Vela grabbed the ball, he was fouled. When the whistle blew, Edinburg North coach Rudy Garcia gave a huge fist pump before turning to celebrate with his team.
“You have to give a lot of credit to Vela,” Garcia said. “We needed a defensive stop. And we got it. It was a long pass, and they were looking for a 3. Ben stepped up and played. He’s actually one of our guys that usually comes off the bench. And for him to come in and make plays when we need him, it’s fantastic.”
Vela hit his free throws and the Cougars hung on to win the tightly contested District 31-6A matchup 68-61.
Edinburg North and Edinburg Vela are tied atop the 31-6A standings at 11-2. Edinburg High is just behind at 10-3. Edinburg North closes out the season Tuesday against winless PSJA Southwest, while Edinburg Vela will host Edinburg High. If Edinburg North beats Southwest, the Cougars clinch a share of a district title. If Edinburg Vela also wins, the SaberCats would share the title. But if Vela loses, North can win to secure the district title outright.
“We still have one more game that we have to go play, hard,” Garcia said. “Since I’ve been here, we have had two (district titles). This would be the third. It would be great, because we have a few seniors, but most of our guys are juniors, and then (Rangel) is a sophomore.”
Sophomore forward Izaiah Rangel exploded for a game-high 27 points to lead the way for North.
Sekinger responded with 23 of his own.
Edinburg North used the support of the raucous crowd to jump out to an early lead.
“We knew we could get in front quickly and steal the momentum,” Rangel said. “They are a great team, but I felt like we wanted it more from the very beginning, and we finished out.”
Edinburg Vela had to fight to weather the storm. The smooth shooting of Trey Chavana both from the field and the charity stripe allowed the SaberCats to climb back in it.
Rangel brought the firepower when the Cougars needed it, knocking down back-to-back 3s before the break to give the Cougars a 33-31 halftime lead.
Rangel finished the night 7 of 10 from the free-throw line, but all three of his misses came with the team’s lead at four or less. When it mattered most, though, Rangel came up big, going 4 for 4 in the fourth quarter to help seal the win.
The referees knew this was a rivalry game with huge stakes on the line, so they let the players play. The game started off physical and only got more heated as the point differential shrunk.
“It’s physical, but I love it, though,” Rangel, a quarterback/wide receiver for the football team said. “I love backing down Noah. I love mixing it up. It was great.”
With the crowd split, the night hardly had any quiet moments.
“The atmosphere was crazy,” Rangel said. “It’s great for the school and the community. It brings our community together.”
Senior guard Felix Aleman was North’s next leading scorer with 11 points. Aleman made Vela pay when the SaberCats’ defense gave him an open look. Vela was playing a zone that left Aleman alone in the corner. The defense is designed for Sekinger to contest Aleman’s shots, but Aleman hit three 3s in the third quarter after lulling the SaberCats to sleep.
Chavana had 16 for Vela. Vela had 12 for North