BROWNSVILLE — Weslaco East’s Jediah Rivens and Zion Rodriguez combined to score 43 points in a 60-37 victory over Brownsville Veterans in District 32-5A action Tuesday at Brownsville Veterans High School.
The Wildcats improve to 3-0 in district competition, while the loss is the Chargers’ first in league play.
“We came in with a refuse to lose mentality today. I told them we have to focus on our defense and defense will turn into offense — being on help-side, playing the passing lanes allowed us to get quick steals and easy buckets,” East head coach Zeke Rodriguez said. “Zion and Jediah, they’re a good duo. They’re compatible and they work well together.”
The Chargers outscored the Wildcats 16-13 in the first quarter before East’s defense buckled down. Weslaco East surrendered just 21 points over the next three quarters to hold Brownsville Veterans under 40 points, meeting a team goal.
We came in wanting to beat these guys up. We had some tough times in the past — they got one on us, we got one on them — it’s all competitive and it was good to pick up this district win,” Rivens said.
Rivens and Rodriguez repeatedly turned defense into offense to build a dominant second half lead. Rivens scored a game-high 25 points to go with seven rebounds and three assists. Rodriguez finished with 18 points and three rebounds.
“We wanted to make a statement tonight and show the district who we are. It’s a good district win for us,” Zion Rodriguez said.
Guard Pablo Castaneda led the Chargers with 11 points, 10 of which came during the first half. Post Michael Camacho finished with seven points and 10 rebounds.
Next for Weslaco East is Mercedes at 6 p.m. Friday at Weslaco East High School. Brownsville Veterans moves on to face Donna North at 1 p.m. at Brownsville Veterans High School.
