By ANDREW CRUM, Staff Writer
Hanna’s Mia Paz was a freshman, but she played with a veteran maturity this season.
Paz averaged 16.1 points per game during her first varsity campaign and led her team to 18 wins this year. Despite Paz’s emergence, the Lady Golden Eagles finished outside the top four in District 32-6A and just missed a postseason berth.
Still, that did little to blemish Paz’s efforts this season, and her strong campaign could lead to big things for Hanna in the future.
Paz shared the district newcomer of the year award with Los Fresnos sophomore Britney Ruiz, and adds another accolade to her season. Paz has been named The Brownsville Herald’s 2016 All-Metro Newcomer of the Year.
“It’s really an honor for me to get this award,” Paz said. “I really want to thank Coach (Luis) Gonzalez for everything he’s done and all my teammates. They supported me through everything I did.”
Paz scored over 600 points this season and hit 73 shots from beyond the arc.
“Mia had an amazing season,” Gonzalez said. “She was the focal point of every team we played; they knew they had to guard Mia, they knew they had to try to stop her. For her to be able to produce those numbers, it says so much about her game. I was so proud of her this year.”
Paz said she felt pressure at times, but was able to get through it with her parents and her brother Trey’s help. Her older brother had been in a similar situation on the boys team before her and gave her advice. Seeing her grandparents in the stands also served as a calming presence for Paz when she felt the pressure was getting to her.
Gonzalez believes his freshman handled the transition to varsity with ease.
“I think it was easy for Mia because she has an incredible work ethic; she works extremely hard,” he said. “I was lucky enough to coach her and saw what she did in practice, some of the things she was able to do every day.”
Part of that was the way she prepared. Paz plays in some leagues during the offseason in San Antonio where the competition can be fierce, but it helped her to face better competition at the varsity level.
Now, Paz is already thinking about next season.
“Our mindset is to go to the playoffs next year and I really want to help the team get there,” she said. “We need to work as a team and start improving in the offseason.”
Gonzalez was proud of his freshman, but knows her focus is on winning.
“I got to know Mia pretty well this season. These individual honors are good for her, but her biggest thing is winning and making her teammates better,” he said. “I think that’s something that will carry over to next season, I think that will help carry the Hanna basketball program in the future.”
Andrew Crum covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him at (956) 982-6629 or via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @ andrewmcrum.