BY JON R. LAFOLLETTE | STAFF WRITER
The PSJA North Lady Raiders should have been easy to stop, but went further than any other Valley team this season.
Coach Randy Bocanegra instructed a unit with minimal depth, no interior size and five trigger-happy guards to their first district championship, and was the only UIL Valley girls basketball coach to see his team go three rounds deep in the postseason.
For doing more with less, Bocanegra is awarded the RGVSports.com All-Valley Coach of the Year.
“(The award) is a by-product of my kids’ effort,” Bocanegra said. “Through their hard work, our program gets recognition. We talked about our strengths before the season. We weren’t very tall, but we could be fast, we could press and we could shoot the ball. That’s what we focused on and then everything else fell in place.”
This marks the second time Bocanegra has been given the award, having previously received it after the 2011-12 season when the Lady Raiders made their first trip to the playoffs.
“It tells us that we’re doing the right things,” the sixth-year coach said. “Any time you can get recognition as one of the top programs, or top coaches, it’s very rewarding because you’re placed where other coaches have been.”
PSJA North appeared in the RGVSports.com Top 10 rankings for the duration of the regular season, and ranked as high as No. 1. The team finished with an overall record of 31-5, including a 64-54 win over Weslaco High on Dec. 16 at Weslaco.
“We surprised some teams early and built confidence,” Bocanegra said. “Certainly that win against Weslaco really put us there. We were not only competitive, we were among the better teams.”
