BROWNSVILLE — Brownsville Veterans Memorial head coach Arnold Torres was praised by coaches during the season because of the team’s success, he said.
The Chargers (27-4, 17-0) are the outright District 32-5A champions, and have a chance to finish up the district as undefeated champs at 6 p.m. today against Edcouch-Elsa at Edcouch-Elsa High School.
“I had different coaches tell me throughout the year things like, ‘Hey, your girls are playing well. We did not think they were going to play that well this year.’ Or, ‘We did not think your team was going to be competitive this year,’” Torres said.
The Chargers have scored a total of 1,062 points, and have only given up 330 points in 17 district games.
“Being able to get the girls to work, and have the success they have had is rewarding for me as a coach,” Torres said. “Hopefully, it is as rewarding for them.”
Brownsville Veterans is a deep team with plenty of scorers, rebounders and facilitators.
“We have been depending on each other as a team,” senior point guard Alexa Torres said. “We do not rely on one person, we all score equally, and if one person is off — we can all step up. I like that about us.”
The Chargers do have a leading scorer, and that is senior guard Mariana Espinosa with 13 points per game. But her teammates are not far off.
“I always had up for this team to go 18-0,” Espinosa said. “We did struggle sometimes, but we pulled through and that is all that matters.”
Torres has a record of 58-1 in district games as the head coach of the Chargers.
Brownsville Veterans Memorial is not the only team with the chance to go undefeated in district. Harlingen High, Edinburg High and Edinburg Vela also have chances tonight to finish their district seasons without a blemish on the final day of the regular season for girls basketball.
Harlingen High split the District 32-6A championship in 2022. In 2023, it is its title outright, and possibly undefeated district champion.
It is not going to be easy against the Los Fresnos Falcons (26-9, 5-4) at 6 p.m. tonight at Harlingen High School. The Cardinals (21-10, 9-0) defeated the Falcons 55-42 in the first outing.
Harlingen High head coach Ashley Moncivaiz is 104-7 in district contests since taking over for the 2014-15 season.
The Cardinals are led in scoring by senior point guard Rosa Zapata and senior forward Layla Salas, both average 10 points per game. Juli Bryant chips in with an average of nine points, and Athena Linnartz puts up six.
Edinburg High has outscored its District 31-6A opponents by a total of 340 points so far this season. The Bobcats (28-7, 9-0) face PSJA High at 6 p.m. today at PSJA High School, the Bears are 0-9 in district.
La Joya High was the closest to beat Edinburg High so far in district play, 20 points the margin.
The Bobcats junior three of Kimora Fagan, Emily Carranco and Madison Martinez put up an average of 46 points a night, while senior Lucero Jimenez and freshman Sydnie Brenner combine for 10 points on average.
Edinburg High ran away with District 31-6A this season and could face either San Benito or Los Fresnos in the bi-district round.
Edinburg Vela won the District 31-6A title last season with an undefeated record, and can do the same at 6 p.m. tonight at PSJA Memorial, but in District 31-5A.
The Sabercats took home the District 31-5A title this season outright with an 86-36 win over Sharyland Pioneer on Friday night.
Head coach Lottie Zarate has not dropped a district game while in charge of Edinburg Vela since Jan. 25, 2021, when the Sabercats lost 52-49 to PSJA High in District 31-6A meeting.
The Sabercats (27-4, 17-0) are waiting how things pan out in District 32-5A with Harlingen South, Weslaco East and Brownsville Lopez all tied at 12-5. The loser of Weslaco East and Harlingen South on Tuesday is likely to be the fourth seed and Edinburg Vela’s opponent in the first round.