BY TJ GARCIA | SPECIAL TO THE MONITOR
LA JOYA — The Rio Grande City Lady Rattlers were waiting in the bushes for this one.
Jocy Amaya scored 14 points, including eight in the fourth quarter, and Adrianna Cruz added 11 to lead the Lady Ratters past the Mission Veterans Lady Patriots 38-24 in a tense, defense-centric 31-5A play-in game Friday night at the La Joya High gym.
The win avenges a 20-point pounding Rio Grande City (26-11 overall, 10-6 in district) suffered at the hands of Mission Veterans just over a week ago at home. And this time it was the Lady Rattlers’ defense that made the difference, as Rio Grande City jumped on Vets in the fourth quarter to seal the game.
Up 25-19 at the end of three periods, Rio Grande City shut down Mission Veterans 13-5 in the decisive final period. The Lady Rattlers hit eight of nine free-throw attempts and earned the right to play Brownsville Veterans next week in the bi-district round of the playoffs.
“We picked up the intensity, and we were more focused,” Amaya, the 5-foot-11 post, said about the fourth quarter. “We ran a diamond and one on her (Sophomore Jackie Howell, who averaged 15 points per game). The main focus of the defense was to stop her, knowing if we did not stop her, it would not be good. But we did.”
Howell finished with just 4 points, and Amaya said the team was fortunate to bounce back after squandering some chances earlier in the district season.
Rio Grande City coach Gustavo Valenciana said as much. The Lady Rattlers had to win their last two games just to get into the postseason, and both games were won with defense.
“Actually, I was hoping we could get a rematch,” Valenciana said, smiling. “For now, this is just a big weight off our back. We had such high expectations coming in (the season). We had all five starters returning, but we started district 1-3. It was tough. We had some injuries. But we finally got in, and that’s a credit to the kids.”
As for Mission Veterans, coach Rafael Cantu said he was pleased with his team’s effort for the entire season. He said the Lady Patriots, which finished with an overall record of 18-17, were inexperienced and had to deal with other challenges.
“We have a lot to look forward to. We only had two seniors this year,” Cantu said. “Our two seniors (Andrea De La Garza, Lyndsey Garza) played great all year along. They had to do a lot, and the younger players had to a lot. There are good things on the horizon.”