By MARIO AGUIRRE | STAFF WRITER
MERCEDES — At a time when Mercedes’ playoff hopes began to slip away last year, Rey Rincon was called upon to inject a little bit of life in his team.
Up to that point, the sophomore had played sparingly coming off the bench, with the team boasting four seniors. And while his efforts weren’t enough to salvage the season, Rincon began to show promise. His development during that stretch proved pivotal for a team in transition, as Mercedes (14-11, 5-1) now finds itself in the hunt for a District 32-5A title, with Rincon averaging a team-high 16.6 points per game.
“Late in the first round (of district) last year, (former Tigers) Coach (Eric) Steinbrenner started to see what he had in him. He pretty much called him a gamer. Someone who comes in, performs and plays ball,” first-year coach Rick Treviño said. “He’s playing a lot bigger role for us this year. He delivers in every category, and he plays the big-time leadership role. He fits in perfectly in what we’re trying to do.”
Treviño said he suspected Rincon would be a big contributor to the team when he saw his commitment to offseason workouts. Rincon and teammate Ricky Jimenez regularly showed up to the school’s gym around 8 a.m. to begin lifting weights and playing pickup games.
“Everything was basketball,” Treviño said. “They eat, sleep, everything basketball. I knew then I had two special guys embedded in it. So when we came in the fall, they really complemented everyone well.”
At times, Rincon is surprised by the success. Last year, he was a role player on a team that missed the playoff cut. Now, he’s the go-to player on offense for a team on pace to make the postseason. What’s more, Rincon is one of the shorter players, at 5-foot-7, on one of the shortest teams in the Valley.
Lacking any 6-footers on their roster, the Tigers consistently found themselves getting out-rebounded early in the season. On some nights, Rincon counted as many as 20 offensive boards surrendered. What came of that, though, was tweaks in the team’s offensive approach.
As district neared, Mercedes began to push the pace and rely more on its outside shooting. Whether or not opposing teams hit shots was irrelevant. Treviño implored his players to get out in transition and try to out-run teams.
Players like Rincon utilized their speed to get out on the break, and in turn avoid some contact that came from half-court sets. Jimenez also flourished in that capacity, averaging 12.5 points and 4.4 assists per game.
It helped, too, that Treviño relieved some of Rincon’s defensive assignments, which generally called for him to guard the opposing team’s top players. By doing that, the Tigers were able to preserve Rincon and limit his foul count.
“At first, it was a surprise seeing them compete against those bigger, stronger teams,” Treviño said, “but now it’s no longer a surprise. They’re coming out and they’re competing every single game.”
Despite graduating four seniors and transitioning to a new coach, Mercedes is finding itself more competitive these days. Though it lost to Brownsville Pace (15-9, 6-0) on Tuesday, setting Mercedes one full game back of first place, Rincon has come to enjoy his new role.
“It’s kind of come as a surprise for us (being in the playoff hunt),” Rincon said. “I put in a lot of hard work in the summer to get to this point, and it’s starting to pay off.”