PHARR — Water polo’s inaugural season under the UIL banner has added another rivalry in the Tri-City area as PSJA High and PSJA North’s boys water polo teams entered Tuesday night deadlocked atop the District 32-6A standings.
The Bears used a strong fourth quarter to surge past the Raiders 17-10 to claim the victory in a battle of district unbeatens at the Pharr UTRGV Natatorium.
“Having our superintendent being present here, having so many people in the stands and the support, everything was amazing. This is almost like a district championship game for us and I think we put on a good show, both of us schools,” PSJA High head coach Pedro Saavedra said.
PSJA High (8-0, 4-0) entered the fourth quarter with a 10-8 lead. The Bears pressed their foot on the gas pedal and outscored PSJA North 7-2 over the final seven minutes to clinch the rivalry win. PSJA’s Ryan Gomez, Chris Gonzales and Jesus Sanchez all scored two goals during the fourth quarter, and Isaac Garza chipped in with one.
“We’ve been practicing for these types of situations since we lost to this same team at the district tournament last year. We marked this game on our calendars, and we knew it was going to be a fight all the way into the fourth quarter,” Saavedra said.
PSJA North’s Josue Rocha scored three straight goals during the third to pull the Raiders within one before the Bears pulled away. He finished with five goals, Jayden Ybarra scored three and Victor Jalife added two during the first quarter.
PSJA High’s Gomez scored a game-high seven goals. Gonzales was right behind him with five goals, Sanchez had three and Jai Arenas scored once.
“It was very intense, very fun getting to compete with our sister school and getting to compete for first place,” Gonzales said. “I wanted to see all-out, 100% effort. We wanted to see who wanted it more, and we proved it on the scoreboard.”
PSJA High will look to remain unbeaten against PSJA Southwest at 7 p.m. Friday at the Pharr UTRGV Natatorium. Next for PSJA North is a road test against Harlingen High at 9 a.m. Saturday at the Harlingen Aquatic Center.
