McALLEN — Intense is a fitting word to describe this year’s McAllen Memorial boys basketball team.
It starts with the Mustangs’ three-year lettermen — Arian “Chino” Elizondo and twins Jaden and Jalen Muhammad. The three were sophomores when the Mustangs had their postseason hopes dashed on the final day of the 2020 regular season, losing on a buzzer-beating 3-pointer against La Joya High in a play-in game.
Since then, the Mustangs have been determined to not just get into the postseason, but to make some noise once they got there.
They’ve done precisely that their senior season by winning the District 31-5A co-championship, the program’s first since 2016, and taking down Edcouch-Elsa on Tuesday in the bi-district round to advance to the area round for the first time in four years.
Next for Memorial is a Region IV-5A second-round matchup against Laredo Martin at 7 tonight at Rio Grande City High School.
“Throughout those three years, we’ve been putting in work non-stop, me, my brother and Chino, all the guys,” Memorial senior guard Jalen Muhammad said. “We don’t shoot to miss, we shoot to make, and that’s what we’ve been doing this year.”
The trio returned to the basketball team after wrapping up the 2021 football season in late November. Once they hit the court for their first practices and games, first-year head coach Rick Treviño noticed a shift in intensity and competitiveness.
“It’s next level. We like to go watch college practices across Texas like Baylor, St. Edwards, and you see that level of competitiveness — we see that in Chino and the twins, and they bring that out of everybody else,” he said. “Before football was over, we had good practices and were doing some good things, but when they came over, it was a whole different intensity. It was that next level. They don’t back down from anybody. They want the challenge whether the guy’s 6 foot, 4 inches or the fastest guy on the court, they want that challenge.”
The Muhammads, who both played safety for the Mustangs football team, bring their same passion from the gridiron to the hardwood.
They hound opposing ball handlers from the opening tip until the scoreboard reads no time left. They can also hit from deep and finish at the basket offensively.
“They bring the intensity to us. They go hard and it pushes us to play defense like they do,” Elizondo said of Jaden and Jalen.
When asked about where their defensive effort comes from, the twins’ answers started off nearly identical.
“My dad always drills defense. You can’t play at the next level without defense,” Jaden said. “You have to lock in on defense. Focus in on your man. Don’t worry about a screen coming, don’t let them go nowhere.”
“My dad taught us to be dogs. Every time we get in the gym, we train to be dogs and dominate the whole game,” Jalen said.
While guys Jaden, Jalen and teammates Alex Hougro and Rosendo Martinez serve as spark plugs for the Mustangs, Elizondo matches their intensity as a cold-blooded assassin with the rock in his hands. He can create his own offense, pour it in from anywhere on the floor and get others involved.
“I just play at my own pace. I can shoot it, I can drive it in — I feel like I can score from anywhere,” Elizondo said.
During the Mustangs’ 77-60 bi-district victory over Edcouch-Elsa, Hougro and Jalen Muhammad scored 19 points apiece, Elizondo had 17 and Jaden Muhammad added 12.
Treviño helped the Mustangs (24-12, 12-2) raise the District 31-5A trophy and cut down the nets after their first-round win. While Memorial got over the district title and bi-district hurdles, Treviño cleared a personal one this season. He captured his first district title as a head coach after finishing second three different times during his tenure as Mercedes’ head coach.
Now, he hopes to lead them farther.
Standing between the Mustangs and an appearance in the regional quarterfinals is Laredo Martin. The Tigers (20-16, 10-0) won the District 30-5A championship and beat Corpus Christi King 64-63 on Tuesday to get to the area round.
“They’re similar to us. They like to shoot it, have some decent height, so we match up decently,” Treviño said. “It’s just a matter of us executing what we want to do and I think we’ll have a good shot.”
