BY SAUL BERRIOS-THOMAS | STAFF WRITER
Weslaco overcame an early start Monday to beat a game PSJA North squad 36-21 in the Class 6A Bi-District round.
“Well you know it is exciting,” Weslaco coach Griselda Fino said. “That feeling never gets old. We knew we were going to have our hands full with that PSJA North team, even with them being as young as they are. Of course it was exciting.”
Neither team shot particularly well in the first half. As the teams headed to the locker rooms, Weslaco High led 13-12.
“In the first half we had a really slow start,” Fino said. “We went like 5-for-26 from the field. So, offensively we just weren’t in rhythm in the first half.”
Fino had a plan in place and it worked to perfection in the second half. The panthers started feeding senior forward Gabriella Garza. She started to hit a couple shots and that got the team rolling.
“(Garza) opened up the middle for us because she kept attacking the middle,” Fino said. “She opened up a lot of other things. Once we started going to her and she started going, they started clamping down on her. That opened up the drives for our guards. After that Bre (Peña) and Emily (Saenz) picked up the slack. It was just a team effort.”
Weslaco (29-8) advances to the area round for the sixth consecutive year. PSJA North (26-10) returns all but two players and is poised to take a big step forward next year.
LAREDO UNITED SOUTH 91, LA JOYA PALMVIEW 63: at Alice, La Joya Palmview is bounced from the playoffs in the bi-district round for the second year in a row. Palmview finishes the year 20-16.
SOUTH SAN ANTONIO 87, McALLEN MEMORIAL 65: at San Antonio, South San Antonio came in having won 4 of its last 5. Memorial (23-11) couldn’t keep up with the Bobcats’ explosive offense.
LAREDO ALEXANDER 84, McALLEN ROWE 32: at Alice, after winning their way onto the playoffs on Friday, the Warriors (11-24) were bounced in the opening round.
CLASS 4A BI-DISTRICT
WEST OSO 66, GRULLA 37: at Falfurrias, Grulla’s (20-16) first ever trip to the playoffs ends in the bi-district round.