Note: The complete boys bi-district playoff schedule can be found at RGVSports.com.
The Texas high school boys basketball playoffs tip off Monday and are headlined by competitive head-to-head matchups between Rio Grande Valley powers, battles with the Coastal Bend and teams looking to make program history.
Starting in District 31-6A, Edinburg High, Edinburg North and La Joya High shared the district title as the teams split their head-to-head matchups against each other in a fight for the top.
After sorting out the tiebreaker seeding scenario, the Cougars (24-15, 8-2) are the No. 1 seed and will take on Weslaco High. The Bobcats (25-10, 8-2) are the No. 2 seed and are headed for a matchup against Los Fresnos, and the third-seeded Coyotes (25-12, 8-2) face Brownsville Hanna in Round 1.
The fourth and final playoff spot in the district came down to Edinburg Economedes and Mission High in a play-in game Friday night.
Economedes’ Sebastiane Lopez dropped 40 points and Nathaniel De La Garza added 18 in an 83-76 win over Mission to send the Jaguars to the playoffs in head coach Romeo De La Garza’s first season at the helm of the program. Economedes will now face San Benito in the opening round of the postseason.
DISTRICT 32-6A
San Benito comes into the dance as the outright District 32-6A champions — its first outright title since the 1960s. They also come in with a solid starting five.
Chris Thrailkill anchors the lineup that features shooters DeAnthony Mireles and Tayshaun Corbin, one of the best athletes in the Valley in Mariano Garcia, and another rising athlete in sophomore Peter Jackson.
Head coach Luis Garza’s guys went 9-1 in district, only losing to Fermin Lucio’s Brownsville Hanna. The Eagles are senior heavy but have some young ballers that complement Ricardo Roman, Kevin Flores and Emiliano Hernandez, to name a few.
The Eagles finished second in the district at 8-2 to set up an interesting meeting with La Joya. Another good matchup is Edinburg High and the third-place team in District 32-6A, Los Fresnos.
Falcons junior JJ Salazar is one of the best players in the district, averaging 19 points a night this season and doing so in a district that features plenty of stingy defense. Gio Galvan and Luis Ramirez each average 11 points per game to assist Salazar in scoring for the Falcons.
Weslaco High looked dead in the water after losing four in a row following a win over Brownsville Rivera to open district. The Panthers picked up big wins over Harlingen High and Los Fresnos to send the Panthers into the playoffs.
Sophomore post Pete Cantu stepped up down the stretch for head coach Gabe Valdez. Cantu hit some big baskets late to seal a win against Harlingen High, the team Weslaco High was chasing.
DISTRICT 30-5A
La Joya Palmview (26-11, 10-4) and Rio Grande City (19-16, 8-6) finished third and fourth in district play and will travel to the Coastal Bend for road matchups against Corpus Christi Veterans and Corpus Christi Miller, respectively.
DISTRICT 31-5A
Edinburg Vela moved down to the Class 5A level and took care of business by winning its second district championship in a row. The SaberCats (24-13, 16-2) are headed for a first-round playoff test against Brownsville Pace (25-11, 13-5).
McAllen Memorial, a team coming off a third-round playoff appearance a season ago, locked up the No. 2 seed and will match up against Brownsville Veterans (21-13, 13-5) in Round 1.
Sharyland Pioneer first-year head coach Fernando Rodriguez led the Diamondbacks to a third-place finish in 31-5A and drew Weslaco East (23-13, 13-5) to open the playoffs.
McAllen High put together back-to-back Sweet 16 and Elite Eight appearances in 2021 and 2022, and was impacted greatly by graduation and players transferring out this season. That didn’t matter as head coach Ryan Flores and the Bulldogs found a way to grind out a playoff spot by clinching the No. 4 seed with crucial head-to-head wins over McAllen Rowe. The Bulldogs will host 32-5A champion Harlingen South in Round 1.
DISTRICT 32-5A
Harlingen South dropped out of District 32-6A and won a District 32-5A championship with ease.
The Hawks rattled off 12 straight district wins to give themselves a huge advantage over the district’s title hopefuls. Good luck guarding junior Steven Ortegon. The Hawks graduated tons of key players but returned a couple of good ones, featuring Ortegon.
Longtime head coach Brian Molina has his hands full against a surging McAllen High.
Weslaco East was in second place for most of district play but finished in a three-way tie with Brownsville Veterans Memorial and Brownsville Pace. The Wildcats took care of both in a play-in tournament to ensure a meeting with Sharyland Pioneer.
Making the playoffs was not going to be easy for Brownsville Pace and Brownsville Veterans. Pace head coach Jose Ramirez made the most of a team that graduated a starting five and then some. Ricky Tijerina and Tyler Rudder stepped up this year. Rudder averaged 15 points per game and Tijerina averaged 12 to send the Vikings back to the playoffs as the fourth seed.
Brownsville Veterans head coach Albert Briones has guided the Chargers to back-to-back playoff appearances. It was not easy for the Chargers, Wildcats and Vikings to make the playoffs with Brownsville Lopez and Mercedes keeping the pressure on, but they did.
DISTRICT 32-4A
Port Isabel head coach Gilbert Rodriguez spent his Friday night watching Alice, his first-round opponent, defeat Kingsville King in a play-in game alongside former head coach Mike Hazelton. The Tarpons went 27-4 and 13-1 to capture the District 32-4A title, but they want more, Rodriguez said.
A deep playoff run is always the goal for the Tarpons. They have three players that can help. Cleveland, Christian and Jeffrey Smith average a combined 48 points per game for the Tarpons, as well as 15 steals and 10 assists between the brothers.
The only team to defeat Port Isabel in district was La Feria. The Lions also have plenty of talented guards under first-year head coach Erik Villagomez. The Lions missed out on the playoffs last year and return this year to face Corpus Christi Tuloso-Midway.
Grulla defeated Raymondville to make the playoffs and will meet Bishop.
DISTRICT 31-3A
Edinburg IDEA Quest captured its first district title in program history and will look to continue its groundbreaking season with a playoff matchup against Lyford. The Trailblazers have gone 22-4 this season and compiled a 15-1 district record. Jeffrey Nguyen’s 20.7 points per game leads IDEA Quest.
Pharr Vanguard finished just behind the Quest and was the only district team to defeat it in the process. Christian Tijerina (16.4 points) and Erick Rodriguez (15.4 points) will be key in their bi-district game against Progreso.
DISTRICT 32-3A
The Santa Rosa Warriors cruised through District 32-3A and are set to meet North Mission IDEA on Monday. Rio Hondo took second after beating Progreso in a seeding game, and Lyford made it in as the fourth seed.
The Red Ants are back in the postseason led by a senior trio of Vlady Rivera (18.6 points), Sergio Moreno (15.3 points) and Isaiah Aleman (11.9 points).
DISTRICT 32-2A
Santa Maria also breezed by District 32-2A. Cougars guard Chris Ibarra is one to watch for the district champs. La Villa also made the playoffs out of the district and is set for action Tuesday.
DISTRICT 32-1A
San Perlita graduated standout Ely Terry and other key players, but guard Nathan Chavez stepped up and balled out to lead the Valley in scoring with 27 points per game to help the Trojans finish second in District 32-1A.
Lasara also made its way into the postseason for a first-round matchup against D’Hanis.
