DONNA — During the waning minutes of their District 32-5A matchup against Edcouch-Elsa on Wednesday night, Donna High head coach Manuel Epperson shouted to his team, “Know who has the hot hand.”
That scorching hot hand belonged to Javier Calvillo.
The junior forward scored 20 of his game-high 25 points during the second half to propel Donna to a 56-44 victory over fellow playoff contender Edcouch-Elsa, improving to 10-7 overall and 8-3 in district action.
“We knew it was for playoff contention and it was a must-win. Whoever got that win was going to be in a good situation,” coach Epperson said. “And we managed to get the ‘W’ tonight. The kids played hard.”
The Yellow Jackets (10-9, 5-4 in district) defense swarmed Donna’s leading scorer Eddy Epperson early, then shifted their focus to stopping Roger Rodriguez, who scored 18 points against Edcouch-Elsa during the first half.
When they did, Epperson and Rodriguez found Calvillo beyond the 3-point line and as he slashed into the paint to pick up easy buckets and push Donna’s lead to double-digits for the 12-point win.
“We knew the pressure was going to be on Eddy. We knew if Roger attacked the basket, we were going to be in good shape,” coach Epperson said. “In the second half, they flipped and had to put pressure on Rog, so that left Eddy open and he drove, kicked the ball out to Calvillo and he made some shots. That’s what our team does. You take away our two best players, the rest of our team is going to step up.”
On the other side, Edcouch-Elsa’s Christian Lira lit up the scoreboard for the Yellow Jackets as the senior point guard posted a team-high 20 points, two rebounds, two steals and one assist. Junior post Joey Suarez added 10 for Edouch-Elsa to stay within striking distance for three quarters before falling behind during the fourth.
Donna’s Calvillo finished 25 points, two assists, one rebound and one steal. Rodriguez scored 20 points, six assists, one steal, one block and one rebound, while the senior guard Epperson had 10 points, four rebounds, four assists, two blocks and two steals.
The Donna victory splits the season series with Edcouch-Elsa after the Yellow Jackets won the first meeting 53-48 on Dec. 30. Now, Donna is in prime position to lock up a playoff spot with three games left on the schedule.
“The kids were motivated. They knew they had to get it,” coach Epperson said. “The kids know what’s at stake; they want to make it back-to-back years of making the playoffs.”
Donna plays next at 7:30 p.m. Friday with a home game against Mercedes. Meanwhile, next up for Edcouch-Elsa is another pivotal game with playoff implications at home against Brownsville Veterans at 7:30 p.m. Friday.
