Rio Grande City forward Emily Lopez accomplished a rare feat by scoring her 1,000th career point, becoming the second girls basketball player in the Rio Grande Valley to reach that mark this season.
Lopez reached the milestone during a 51-28 victory at La Joya Palmview on Tuesday, joining Edinburg Vela forward Andrea Molina, who was the first player in the RGV to do so this season during a 56-38 loss to PSJA North in mid-January.
Molina, a senior and four-year varsity letterman, is leading Edinburg Vela in points per game this season (15.2) and helped the SaberCats clinch the fourth playoff seed in a deeply competitive District 31-6A. The Vela senior also dedicated her 1,000th career point to Mario Garcia, a SaberCats superfan who passed away in 2019 who Molina says played an integral role in her on-court success.
Thx to everyone for the love and support! Glory be to God. ❤️ https://t.co/iKUTO8k646
— dré 🥶 (@molina131313) January 19, 2021
“It meant the world to me knowing that I worked hard for each and every point,” Molina said. “The amount of time that I’ve put into my game is crazy, but I wouldn’t want it any other way; hard word really does pay off. I played more than half of my career with several broken fingers, which was painful, but I still managed to hit a milestone as great as this one! I’m very blessed and give all my glory to God.”
Lopez, meanwhile, became the first junior across the Rio Grande Valley to join the 1,000-point club this season. She leads the Rattlers and District 30-5A in points per game (17.8) this year and helped Rio Grande City clinch its first district title in 35 years with a 50-40 victory over Roma in the Starr County Classic on Friday.
“Being a junior and accomplishing 1,000 points is overwhelming to me,” Lopez said. “I feel blessed to have accomplished this goal of mine, but it is truly a team effort. This wouldn’t have been possible without the support from my teammates, coaches, family and community. I hope that I can continue to succeed in the near future.”
Blessed!! https://t.co/dtrOdV8il8
— emily (@emilyy1510) January 27, 2021
Vela will wait for postseason play to begin before facing the Harlingen High Cardinals in the bi-district round of the 6A state playoffs, while Rio Grande City will travel to Mission Veterans on Tuesday and host Laredo Martin on Friday with both games scheduled to start at 6 p.m., as the Rattlers hope to close out district play unbeaten.
LUCIO, SANCHEZ SET HISTORY FOR PSJA NORTH
PSJA North senior Carolina Sanchez and sophomore Emma Lucio set school history during the Raiders’ 90-35 district victory over Edinburg North.
Sanchez and Lucio became the first pair of Raiders teammates to each score 30 points or more during the same game. Sanchez dropped a season-high 36 points in her team’s win over the Cougars, while Lucio added 31 setting a new career-high in the process.
The occasion also marks Sanchez’s second 30-point game of the season after netting 30 during PSJA North’s season-opening 65-30 victory over Brownsville Hanna in mid-November.
“It means a lot to me to be able to rewrite history with Emma because I know we both have a lot of love for this sport and we both put so much time into training,” Sanchez said. “We work so hard and we just play so well together.
Sanchez, a four-year varsity letterman and the Raiders’ starting point guard, and Lucio, a two-year starting forward, have both been having banner years for PSJA North to this point.
Lucio has averaged 13.5 points, 7.9 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 2.7 steals per game for the Raiders so far this season. Sanchez, meanwhile, is averaging 17.9 points, 4.5 assists and 2.3 steals per contest, leading PSJA North in both points and assists on the year.
The Raiders sit at 15-3 overall and 11-2 in district play after having won 11 of their last 12 games, losing only to 54-46 to Edinburg High on Thursday.
“Losing against Edinburg (High) was tough, but now our main goal is to get further deep into the playoffs and keep being the players we are,” Sanchez said. “It’s my senior year and making history with Emma feels great because I love playing with her and I know I’m going to miss it.”
PSJA North has three District 31-6A games remaining in the regular season at Mission High on Monday, against PSJA High on Tuesday and at La Joya Juarez-Lincoln on Thursday, with all scheduled to tip off at 7 p.m.
The Raiders game Tuesday against the Bears in the Tri-City Classic, which is scheduled to be played at LBJ Middle School in Pharr, will likely determine second place in the district with the winner seizing home-court advantage for the bi-district round of the 6A state playoffs
DONNA IDEA CLINCHES POSTSEASON BERTH IN 1ST UIL SEASON
The Donna IDEA Titans continue adding to a growing list of program firsts during the 2020-21 girls basketball season in the Rio Grande Valley.
Donna IDEA concluded district play Saturday with a 66-5 victory over Edinburg IDEA Quest and for the first time in school history, the team clinched a spot in the Class 3A state playoffs during its first season competing in the University Interscholastic League.
The Titans, who sit at 17-5 overall and finished district play with a 14-2 record, head into the postseason with District 31-3A’s second seed and will host the third-place team from District 32-3A in their bi-district playoff game.
“Our girls work very hard to be where they are at,” Donna IDEA head coach Andrew Sierra said. “They are a great group of girls that want to leave their mark in program history. They have big goals and are working hard to meet them.”
The Titans became the first IDEA school ever to achieve a statewide ranking in the Texas Girls Coaches Association polls.
Donna IDEA has held down a spot in the TGCA’s Class 3A Top 25 poll for the past three weeks, climbing from their debut spot at No. 24 up to 20th and then 19th in the latest edition of the statewide rankings.
Sierra feels that the Titans can back up their statewide recognition, as the team attempts to collect its first UIL bi-district playoff win in program history next week.
“Jumping into UIL (playoffs), I have a lot of confidence in the girls knowing they can compete,” Sierra said.
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Twitter: @ByAndyMcCulloch
