BY JON R. LAFOLLETTE | STAFF WRITER
FALFURRIAS — With the end of her high school career on the line, Ariel Rodriguez watched from the sideline. Four fouls and a poor shooting night relegated the Edinburg Vela Lady SaberCats senior guard to the bench.
There, she was helpless to stop the Tuloso-Midway Cherokees from pulling away to a 54-34 victory during Friday’s Class 5A area round playoff game at Falfurrias High School.
The game served as the antithesis to Rodriguez’s season. She entered the contest the second-highest scoring player in the Valley at 17.9 points. Against the Cherokee, she mustered 9 points on 17 shots.
“(Tuloso-Midway) had a tough defense,” Rodriguez said. “It was tough to score. Honestly, we were kind of intimidated by their defense.”
Rodriguez’s shooting woes were contagious, as the rest of the SaberCats struggled to score as well. Sophomore point guard Jaida Muhammad was the only Vela player to post double-digits, finishing with 11 points.
Vela faltered from the get-go and faced a 14-2 deficit during the first quarter as the Cherokees’ Lexi Ruiz and Emma Gray scored 6 points apiece.
“We were barely getting the feel of the playoff surroundings,” Muhammad said. “I think it was nerves. We were rushing the ball too much.”
The Lady SaberCats tried to force the ball inside to freshman post Bianca Cortez during the early going, but Cortez was routinely flustered by the experience of Gray, a junior.
More concerning than Cortez’s struggles was an injury to Rodriguez midway through the opening quarter. As Rodriguez lowered her head and charged to the basket, she tripped over a Tuloso-Midway defender, reaggravating a knee injury sustained against Mission Veterans earlier this month. Rodriguez limped to the sideline before returning near the quarters’ end.
“I got Charlie-horsed,” Rodriguez said. “It kept my knee from bending (the rest of the game).”
Vela’s offense kick-started in the second quarter, where Muhammad and sophomore guard Julissa Cuellar contributed 6 and 5 points, respectively, many of which came on fast breaks generated by turnovers. The Lady SaberCats outscored the Cherokees 14-10 in the second quarter and faced a 28-22 deficit at the half.
“There were a lot of opportunities where we could have taken control of the game,” Vela coach Lottie Zarate said. “But we just couldn’t do it.”
Tuloso-Midway pulled away for good during the third quarter as Jamie Horman, a sophomore point guard, collected a pair of 3-pointers. Rodriguez, meanwhile, hoisted four air balls from the same distance. Making matters worse, the SaberCats went 3-of-14 from the foul line.
The loss marks the end of a 14-game winning streak for Vela, a run that saw the team go 12-0 in District 31-5A en route to the district championship. Rodriguez, who fought back tears at game’s end, held her head high in spite of the emotion.
“Coach gave me the role of leadership this season,” she said. “And I felt like I did that.”