EDINBURG — District 31-5A powers Edinburg Vela and McAllen Memorial collided Friday night, and a 29-point second quarter from the SaberCats proved to be too much to handle for the Mustangs as Vela pulled off a 72-56 victory at Edinburg Vela High School.
The SaberCats take sole possession of first place in 31-5A, improving to 22-5 overall and 9-0 in district, while the Mustangs drop to 18-5 and 8-1 in league play.
“Our guys just rose to the occasion,” Edinburg Vela head coach Lucio Rodriguez said. “We got a good group of kids that like to be coached, and it’s just a blessing for me. It makes my job easier. We have a great group of kids that are coachable.”
Memorial held a 15-14 lead after one quarter, but Vela’s defense changed the tone of the game during the second. On-ball pressure from the SaberCats’ defense forced the Mustangs to cough up the rock, leading to fastbreak opportunities on the other end for Vela. Sam Sepulveda left his fingerprints all over the game for the SaberCats with 10 points and seven steals, many of which occurred during their second quarter surge.
“We imposed our will on defense. We didn’t get too sped up, we didn’t get nervous — we just did what we do and came out with the ‘W’,” Sepulveda said.
JP Olivarez had the hot hand early for Vela with 10 points of his 18 points during the first quarter. Axel Garza and Jordan Bustamante converted crafty and tough finishes inside to help Vela build a 20-point lead during the fourth quarter. Garza finished with 13 points and Bustamante had 16 points, providing a significant boost off the SaberCats bench.
“Coach’s message before the game was we’re built for this, and I guess we are built for this,” Olivarez said. “We look at tonight and we did a good job of executing our gameplan. Coach did a great job in preparing us and we went out and did what we do, and that’s Vela basketball.”
Memorial’s Danny Canul got off to a sensational start with 21 of his game-high 26 points coming in the first half. Caden Keller finished with 11 points and eight rebounds, Alex Monroy had 10 points and Mando Treviño added nine points.
While Vela takes the lead in the District 31-5A standings, the SaberCats and Mustangs also split last year’s head-to-head matchups. The two will meet again on Feb. 13 at McAllen Memorial High School, potentially with the district championship on the line.
“We got a while before we think about them again. We’re definitely going to learn from this,” McAllen Memorial head coach Rick Treviño said. “Our game plan maybe worked in the first quarter, and then after that, you could see them really getting out and running, especially off our turnovers. That 29-point second quarter just really got them going and we just really couldn’t take care of the ball, so hats off to them and the way they defended.”
Next for Edinburg Vela is Sharyland High at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at Vela High School. The Mustangs will look to bounce back against crosstown rival McAllen High at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at McAllen High School.
