BY TJ GARCIA | SPECIAL TO THE MONITOR
EDINBURG — Edinburg Vela Lady Sabercats, meet Murphy’s Law.
Anything that could go wrong, did go wrong for the No. 2 team from District 31-6A.
Plagued by foul trouble, turnovers, poor shooting and missed free throws, Edinburg Vela played from behind the entire game, got close late but ultimately fell 46-42 against Harlingen South on Monday in a Class 6A bi-district matchup.
Edinburg Vela, which entered the game on fire having lost just once in the last six weeks, ends its season at 20-13. The Harlingen South Lady Hawks (21-15) move on to the next round and face South San Antonio, which beat McAllen Memorial.
The Lady Hawks played hard and were up to the task in slowing down the Lady SaberCats with solid defense and rebounding. Harlingen South easily broke Vela’s press for most of the game, and that started the trouble for the Lady SaberCats.
“ We knew we had to play great team defense and do our best to stop Jaida,” Harlingen South coach Kelley Garrett said, referring to Vela senior leader Jaida Muhammad. “I think my girls came together and played well. Vela is a big team. We don’t box out, we’re gonna get crushed. The girls showed up, and they stuck to the game plan.”
The Lady SaberCats showed some moxie and signs of life despite all that went wrong early. Trailing by 15 midway through the fourth period, Vela went on a 10-0 tear that got it within a basket of South, 45-42, with 27 seconds left on the clock. But a comeback win was too big of a hill to climb for Vela on Monday night.
Harlingen South closed it out with a free throw and more defense. The Lady Hawks were far from perfect themselves, evidenced by 17 turnovers, but they were good enough to win, led by Karla Reyes’ 15 points and dazzling handles. South also got 12 points and spirited play from senior guard Leah Noe, who also had foul trouble.
“ The first half I was a little iffy. I really didn’t know what to do until my coaches calmed me down,” Noe said. “We have a really tough time with defense, but that’s all we did with coach last week. And we realized that it’s not just individual but team defense that’s what’s important.”
To her point, South held Vela to just six second-quarter points, forcing Vela to go 0 for 5 from the floor. On offense, South attacked Vela.
Vela senior Julissa Cuellar picked up two fouls in the first minute of the game and was forced to sit. Without her, the team seemed out of sorts. When she re-entered the game late in the second, Vela was down 22-15.
Intermission didn’t change much. Vela started the second half with two straight turnovers (19 for the game) and was down 32-24 after three quarters. South stepped on the gas to start the fourth and used an 11-4 run to lead 43-28. After that, Edinburg Vela mounted its comeback, but it was too late.
The Lady SaberCats were also hurt by a stagnant offense that too often relied only on Muhammad and a dismal 9-for-21 performance from the free-throw line. Nine Vela players went to the line to shoot two free throws, and none made both. Vela coach Lottie Zarate declined to comment after the game.
Muhammad led Vela with 20 points, five steals and five rebounds. Bianca Cortez scored eight points and had 12 rebounds.