McALLEN — The past six seasons have been rough for Sharyland High’s girls basketball team. The Rattlers have missed the postseason during each of those years, with their last playoff appearance coming during the 2015-16 campaign.
This season, however, the Rattlers are amid a turnaround campaign. As the midway point of district play draws near, Sharyland High’s first postseason appearance in six years is within sight, sitting in third in District 31-5A.
The Rattlers tightened their grip on the No. 3 seed Tuesday, downing the McAllen High Bulldogs 39-34 at the McAllen High Gym.
“The past two or three years we’ve finished one place shy of the playoffs and it has pretty much been the same group,” Sharyland High head coach Monica Meza said. “We have a senior-heavy group. There are six of them who have been with me since they were sophomores. The message at the end of last year was if they wanted to go get it, this would be the last go around. I think our seniors and our leaders put in a lot of work this summer to make sure this season’s outcome would be exactly what we wanted it to be.”
The victory moves the Rattlers to 6-2 in district play, taking a one-game advantage over the McAllen Memorial Mustangs (5-3) with one game remaining during the first round of league play.
The sixth victory also matches Sharyland High’s win total during district play from last season, a feat it didn’t achieve until the final week of the regular season.
Sharyland High’s turnaround is spearheaded by its senior backcourt duo of Daylah Vega and Mary Le, who rank first and second on the team in points per game, respectively.
Vega entered Tuesday’s contest averaging 11.8 points per game, with Le adding 9.0 points per contest.
Their leadership was on full display during the Rattlers’ victory with the duo combining for 24 of the team’s 39 points.
“Daylah (Vega) has been with me since she was a freshman and she carried a heavy workload her first few years,” Meza said. “I know that as her teammate, Mary (Le) wanted to come in this year and relieve some pressure off of her. She is a girl who lived in the gym all spring and summer long. They’ve come a long way. To have a dynamic duo like that, it opens up our ability to do multiple things.”
Vega scored 11 of her game-high 13 points during the first half, including a seven-point outburst during the second to send the Rattlers into the break with a double-digit advantage.
The Bulldogs responded with a furious comeback attempt coming out of the break, erupting for 16 points during the third to get the game as close as two.
Dana Rojas netted six points off the bench during the period to lead the Bulldogs, with Lola Mallard and Dariana Luna each adding five. Mallard finished with a game-high 11 points for the Bulldogs, with Rojas adding seven.
Le answered for the Rattlers, nailing a 3-pointer to close out the period to send Sharyland High into the fourth with a seven-point lead. She added a pair of free throws during the final moments of the game to help seal the victory.
“I thought we had some moments where we were going to blow it open,” Meza said. “Then there were some points where the pressure kind of got to us. We knew McHi was going to come out and be aggressive. That is their style and game. We were able to grind it out and pull it out. The girls were poised toward the end of the game.”
Both teams close out the first half of district play at 6 p.m. Friday. The Bulldogs (10-13, 4-4) hit the road for a contest against the Valley View Tigers at the Valley View Gym. The Rattlers (17-7, 6-2) host intracity rival Sharyland Pioneer (12-13, 4-4) at the Sharyland High gym.