By MARK MOLINA | THE BROWNSVILLE HERALD
Among the boys basketball teams in the metro-area with high expectations this season, it’s likely none are higher than those of the Los Fresnos Falcons.
The Falcons have hoisted the District 32-6A trophy for the last three years, including a 13-1 district record (26-7 overall) last season as Los Fresnos concluded its campaign with an area-round loss to Laredo United.
While head coach Marco Hinojosa believes his squad has the tools to capture another district crown and make another postseason run with District MVP Jordan Urbina and two more starters returning to the lineup, he admits 32-6A’s competition won’t make it easy.
“The team is looking to continue the success from the previous season,” Hinojosa said. “Our goal, just like every other team, is to win the district title. With our district being tough from 1 through 8, it will be very challenging but one we are ready for it.”
Joining Urbina in the lineup is fellow seniors and first-team all-district selections Andrew Carrizales and Gabe Martinez.
Urbina averaged 12.9 points per game last season and 5.1 steals per game, while Martinez and Carrizales averaged 12.6 and 10.3 PPG, respectively.
The Falcons also return seniors Lino Yzaguirre and Tomas Rangel, whom Hinojosa is going to bank on for quality minutes to help his team overcome the losses of Alex Garcia and Albert Alarcon, whom averaged 10.9 and 9.9 points per game, respectively, a season ago.
“For us to be successful, we will need our three returning starters to play like the first-team players they are,” Hinojosa said. “For us to have a chance to make a playoff run, we will need contributions from Tomas Rangel and Lino Yzaguirre, who have varsity experience to fill the roles of Alex Garcia and Albert Alarcon.”
HANNA GOLDEN EAGLES
One of the teams standing in the Falcons’ way of another district title may be Hanna, which also boast a bevy of experience.
The Golden Eagles were 20-14 last season, but missed the postseason with a 7-7 district mark.
This season, the Eagles return seven players — all seniors— including starters Jose Torre, Jaime Rucoba and Noah Armstrong.
Hanna head coach Fermin Lucio said his team may be on the older side, but searching for a team identity will be on its to-do list during the tournament and pre-district seasons.
“Our biggest asset is we are a year older and more mature in the game and we also believe we have some of the more talented players in district,” Lucio said. “Our biggest obstacle will be finding an identity of how we want to play with these guys. That’s what these non-district and tourney games are all about, playing with rotation and different lineups.”
Lucio said Torre can run the point with success as he is a good floor general and a solid defensive player, while Rucoba and Armstrong can put up points from the shooting guard and center positions, respectively.
From the younger group, expect Victor Campos to make noise in the paint as a sophomore.
RIVERA RAIDERS
River was at the bottom of the district last season, going 0-14 and 6-24 overall, but with seven players and three starters returning this season, head coach Saul Villarreal is looking for real improvement.
Leading the way for the Raiders are senior guards and team captains Nicolas Blanco and Oscar Lozoya.
Lozoya finished last season as a first-team all-district selection, while Blanco garnered an honorable mention. Villarreal is hoping they, along with the other seniors, will have big seasons on the stat sheet and in the locker room.
“We are expecting for the seniors to step and lead the team,” he said. “Some seniors have been with the team since they were sophomores, so they need to lead the team and have the leadership.”
Villarreal believes the Raiders have what it takes to make a run at the postseason after a rough finish last season, but being able to bring it all together before district play will be easier said than done.
“We are off to a good start, but we have a lot of work ahead of us, since we need to built more chemistry within the team,” Villarreal said. “We don’t have height and we need to get our backups ready to step in when our starters are in foul trouble. We have to make them aware of their important role on the team.”
DISTRICT 32-5A
BROWNSVILLE VETERANS MEMORIAL CHARGERS
You may be hard pressed to find a team that lost more than Brownsville Veterans Memorial.
Last season, the Chargers went 33-4, were 14-0 District 32-5A champions and made it to the regional quarterfinals for the first time in program history before bowing out to Laredo Martin 47-37, but after losing 10 seniors, they must start over.
Despite being young, head coach Larry Gibson is confident that his team can put its best foot forward and be in the district race, but they will have to learn on the fly as the season unfolds.
“This years team will be very young, “ he said. “We will compete every night and get better as the year goes on. I expect this team to make the playoffs and compete for a district championship. We play defense and we have the ability to run the court, but we have to get everyone on the same page.”
Those lost were not only big parts of last season’s successful run, but were some of the better players in the district including district MVP Aaron Villarreal (15.2 ppg) , Defensive player of the Year Erick Saldana and first-team selections Kevin Gomez (12.6 ppg) and Alex Marquez (11.1 ppg).
Returning for the Chargers is sophomore Damian Maldonado and junior Justin Anaya.
Maldonado was the district’s newcomer of the year as a freshman, averaging 7.4 points and 5.5 boards per game and Anaya was an all-district honorable mention. The team will run through them this season.
“Damian and Justin need to become better leaders and our the rest of our young kids need to grow up real quick,” Gibson said.
PACE VIKINGS
Pace was a good example of just how good District 32-5A was last season, as they went 10-4 in league play only to finish in fourth place.
While the Vikings fell to Laredo Martin in bi-district, it still was the team’s third consecutive trip to the postseason.
A total of seven players graduated from last season’s squad, but with some sharpshooters and good athletes at its disposal, Pace is not just thinking of a fourth trip to the postseason, it’s thinking district crown.
“We always look at winning a district title and going far in the playoffs,” Pace head coach Jose Luis Ramirez said. “That is every team’s expectation and it’s no different for us. Our kids have a fighting spirit. They play hard and hate to lose more than they love to win.”
Four players return to the fold for the Vikings, including a pair of second-team all-district selections in seniors Randy Aguilar and Julio Ortega.
Junior guard AJ Anzaldua is one of the younger players brought up from the junior varsity squad this season and has shot the ball well. He is expected to make an impact despite a lack of varsity playing time.
That is one of the bigger issues Ramirez said his team will have to deal with this season, but will rely on the senior class to even that out.
“Our biggest obstacle is our lack of varsity experience because a bulk of our team played on the sub-varsity last year, that’s why our preseason is so important,” he said. “ We are counting on the leadership of our seniors to help us find success. (Randy) Aguilar, Julio Ortega, Vicente Garcia, Misael Monsivais and Joan Polanco are all senior team members that are also very good athletes.”
LOPEZ LOBOS
Lopez finished out of the postseason last season with a 13-18 record and knows trying to rebound isn’t going to be easy this year. The Lobos come in to the season having graduated six seniors, including first team all-district selection Julio Jimenez.
Season-ending injuries to starting senior guard Johnny Ibarra and reserve point guard Hugo Cantu to open the campaign make the road a tougher one to travel.
Head coach Neil Schuster, however, is not counting his team out of it just yet.
“We recently lost two players to injury for the year, but the kids have adopted a next-man-up mentality,” Schuster said. “Expectations are still high and playoffs are the goal. Our biggest strength is our willingness to learn and these kids play hard every day.
“We were dealt a bad hand early, but these kids are extremely resilient and are ready for the challenge.
Backup shooting guard Jose Rodriguez, who was out with a non-basketball injury, will return to the team in two weeks and help fill the void Diaz’s absence has left.
Aside from Diaz, junior guard Armando Pecero is the only returning starter from last season, but will be joined by sophomore JJ Briones and junior Joel Chapa, both of whom were on the team last season.
Depth will be an issue, but Schuster believes that will fall in to place as the season progresses.
“(Our) biggest weakness is our inexperience,” he said “We recently got some of our football players back and this should help give us some much needed depth.”
PORTER COWBOYS
Porter was another 32-5A left outside of the playoffs after going 10-22 last season, but a seven returning players could bode well for the Cowboys.
Among the seven returners are Benjamin Eckersley and Andres Fragoso, who are the only starters back from last season.
Head coach Luis Garza has high hopes, but reaching that potential will be centered on getting better on the boards and finding an offensive identity.
“We’re looking to make a run at the state playoffs,” Garza said. “Our biggest obstacles will be rebounding and being able to run an effective offense. We need the entire unit to jell and we definitely need Andres Fragoso to step up and lead the way.”
DISTRICT 32-4A
PORT ISABEL TARPONS
Port Isabel comes in with a slightly new look as first-year head coach Mike Hazelton takes over.
Hazelton, however, comes into a program that is coming off a 14-17 season (5-9 in District 32-4A), but also sports 11 returning Tarpons and has a roster consisting of five seniors, seven juniors, two sophomores and a freshman.
“We have a seasoned squad that is still young and there’s a good mix of veterans and youth,” he said. “Three players will be participating at the varsity level for their fourth year.”
Those seniors are Fernando Lopez, Juan Muniz and Jesus Saldivar.
Leading that bunch is Lopez, who averaged a team-high 12.8 points per game and was a first team all-district selection.
Also returning is junior Tommy Zurita, who averaged 10 points per game and was a
second team all-district selection as a sophomore.
Hazelton is looking for his team’s quickness and depth to be its strong point this season.
“Our biggest asset is depth, quickness, and experience,” he said. “We’ve had some early season injuries, and lack size, but we collectively need to improve every day. The district will be difficult and you must be ready to play every night.”
TAPPS
TAPPS DISTRICT 2-6A
ST. JOSEPH BLOODHOUNDS
The 2016-17 season was a memorable one for St. Joseph, as it went 22-12 and earned its first playoff win by defeating Houston The Village 58-38 in the first round of the TAPPS 6A playoffs.
Head coach Sam Lucio is now looking to continue that success, despite losing seven players.
“We want to build off the success that we had last season,” he said. “We want to continue to built this program off the foundation that the seniors built last season. I believe we have the team this season that can compete for a district championship and go far in the playoffs.”
The Bloodhounds are returning seven players, including Camilo Trevino, Cesar Garcia, Pete Silvero, Carlos Esteve and Kai Money.
Garcia and Esteve were second team all-district selections, while Money is back after missing his junior season to play soccer.
Lucio sees a lot of potential in Garcia and Esteve, but is also eager to add Money back to the lineup after his hiatus.
“(Garcia) is a tall guard for us that can drive, shoot the midrange jumper and is a great rebounder and shot blocker,” Lucio said. “I believe Cesar can be one of the best players in the valley this season. Esteve, in my opinion is one of the best three-point shooters in the valley and he will have a breakout season his senior year. Kai played his freshman and sophomore year and was a starter — (he) can bring great energy on the defensive side of the ball and brings great court awareness on offense.”
The frontcourt is solid for the Bloodhounds, but the frontcourt is a different story as Trevino is the only player with quality experience there.
Lucio said some of the younger players have shown flashes early on and should come into their own by district.
TAPPS DISTRICT 6-3A
BROWNSVILLE FIRST BAPTIST CRUSADERS
Last season, Brownsville Baptist was 17-10, claimed the TAPPS District 6-3A championship and made it to the second round of the postseason where the Crusaders fell to San Antonio Castle Hills.
A year later, First Baptist is primed to make another run as it returns starters George Solis, Juan Pena, Brandon Diaz and Phillip Crumley.
Solis, Pena and Crumley all were first team all-district selections while Brandon Diaz was a second team selection.
With experience in the right place and familiarity with each other playing a big role, Crusaders head coach George Solis believes his team will be hard to beat if they play their game.
“Our team is looking forward to defending our district championship and going deeper in the playoffs,” he said. “If we play defense the way we should and are capable of playing we should be real good. Sometimes they come out flat and get a little lazy on defense and that is our biggest weakness.
“Our team is that some of these young men have been playing together since the second grade — they know each other and when they have fun, they are hard to beat.”
Solis is a three-year starter at the point and Phillip Crumley has shown the ability to take over games in the post.
Another player looking to break out is Stephen Crumley, who Solis said is transitioning from a role player to a starter with success.