BY JON R. LAFOLLETTE | STAFF WRITER
PHARR — In December, Megan Peralez watched from the sideline with a high ankle sprain as her Weslaco High teammates lost to PSJA North – the first time in more than a year in which the Lady Panthers were beat by an opposing Valley team.
Tuesday at PSJA North, however, Peralez was healthy and impactful, setting the tone early for Weslaco en route to a 61-44 win over the Lady Raiders. The Lady Panthers’ victory creates a first-place tie between the two teams in District 31-6A.
The senior forward scored 4 of her 8 points in the first quarter, and was an inside presence the Lady Raiders had no answer for.
“We were ready for (the game),” Peralez said. “We pasted articles (of the loss) all over the place, our lockers, all over the locker room. We’ve been ready since they beat us.”
While Peralez established her presence inside with put-backs, points in the paint and a game-high 10 rebounds, it was the exquisite guard play of the Lady Panthers that propelled the team to a comfortable win. Junior Jaz Muniz scored a team-high 20 points, and senior guard Angela Villarreal collected 16.
“We came out and we played, we really did.” Peralez said. “And we did it as a team. It wasn’t just one person who came out, everyone came out. We had one mission, one goal.”
But more impressive than Weslaco’s offense was its suffocating perimeter defense. The Lady Raiders, a run-and-gun team reliant on sharpshooting from behind the arc, struggled to get clean looks and was routinely flustered by the length of the Lady Panthers’ wings.
“Our defense was something (Weslaco coach Griselda Fino) talked to us about before the game,” Villarreal said. “Don’t let them get an open shot off, keep a hand in their face. Contest (the shot).”
Weslaco began the game on an 18-6 run that saw four of the team’s five starters contribute buckets. Amy Garcia, an undersized yet scrappy forward, muscled her way to four points while Muniz drained two of her four bombs from long range.
“They started hot, and we started slow,” PSJA North coach Randy Bocanegra said.
Facing a 29-18 deficit to begin the third quarter, the Lady Raiders abandoned their jump-shooting attack and responded with a concerted effort to take the ball inside. Junior Belle Palacios exhibited her post moves and scored 14 of her game-high 22 points in the quarter.
“Coach told us it was time to play,” Palacios said. “It was time to come out strong. I told my girls, ‘This is it, let’s go hard.’ We tried our best, but it wasn’t the outcome we wanted.”
Thanks largely to the effort of Palacios, the Lady Raiders came within one point of Weslaco, trailing 41-40 late in the third. It was as close as North would get. Villarreal stemmed the Lady Raiders’ run with a pair of 3-pointers. One closed the third quarter while another opened the fourth. Suddenly, it was a seven-point Lady Panthers lead.
“I had to get started,” Villarreal said. “It’s something I wanted to do. Once I hit the first (3-point shot), coach told me I was on fire and to keep it up.”
Weslaco outscored the Lady Raiders 17-4 in the final eight minutes — a span that saw Palacios foul out and senior guard Cynthia Martinez, North’s leading scorer, fail to obtain points.
After drawing even with PSJA North (23-4, 6-1), its back to business as usual for Weslaco (24-5, 6-1).
“I told the kids, ‘It doesn’t matter what you say. It doesn’t matter who says what,’” Fino said. “Bottom line is, if you tell me you’re the best team then you need to go out there and prove it.”