MISSION — Edinburg Vela’s JaNai Coleman dropped 23 points, GG Betancourt added 11 and Ava Tovar had 10 points in a 46-28 win over Sharyland Pioneer Friday night in a pivotal District 31-5A meeting.
Edinburg Vela and Sharyland Pioneer are now tied at 15-2 in District 31-5A with the SaberCats win Friday night. The Diamondbacks won the first meeting in early January.
The SaberCats closed out the game comfortably with effortless dribbling and ball movement after putting on a strong defensive performance – as well as an on-fire Coleman, who put up 18 of her 23 points in the second half.
“For me, I was slow in the first half,” Coleman said. “Me picking it up, I felt the game changed and everyone picked it up.”
Coleman and Betancourt, from the backcourt, forced turnovers and ran the floor in transition to attack the basket. Coleman went 7-10 from the free-throw line in the second half. Betancourt had six points in the second half.
Betancourt said the difference between Friday night’s win and the other two district losses was they worked as a team.
“A lot of passes, extra movement,” Betancourt said. “There was a bunch of easy finishes, high-percentage shots. We knew we could not depend on our three tonight, but we could depend on little layups and shots.”
Betancourt found Tovar early in the game often. Tovar had 8 of her 10 points in the first half, but the SaberCats only went into the half up 18-15.
Pioneer’s Ebonie Chatman finished with a team-high 12 points and Anika Fleischmann finished with 10 points.
“They showed up,” Edinburg Vela head coach Lottie Zarate said about her team’s performance. “The girls understood how important tonight’s game was and they got after it. They believe in each other and listen to what we preach all week about keeping our composure.”
Only one game remains in the season for the top two teams in the district. Vela meets PSJA Memorial on Tuesday, while Sharyland Pioneer has to deal with rival Sharyland High.
District 31-5A is already sorted up playoff wise. Edinburg Vela, Sharyland Pioneer, McAllen Rowe and McAllen Memorial have all booked a spot in the playoffs.
