ELSA — Wednesday’s lone game in District 32-5A carried significant implications with it, as long-time rivals Edcouch-Elsa and Mercedes met with playoff ramifications for each side.
The Yellow Jackets, who have already locked up their spot in the Class 5A state playoffs, entered with an opportunity to capture the district’s second seed by the end of the week with a win and add to their winning streak, while the Tigers needed a crucial victory to secure their spot in the postseason.
But despite a slow start, Edcouch-Elsa’s Madi Treviño and Connie Villanueva helped ignite the Yellow Jackets’ swarming defense to notch a narrow 32-28 home victory against the Tigers, earning both the team’s fourth win in the last six days and a season sweep over Mercedes for the first time in nine years.
“This is a huge rivalry. We haven’t done this since I’ve been here. For us to be able to (beat them) twice and here, that’s something to be proud of,” Edcouch-Elsa head coach Daniel Richardson said.
“It’s a huge victory. We were coming out hoping to contend for a district title. We fell a little short, but the next goal is to make sure we get the highest seed possible. We do that and we have a good chance at winning a bi-district championship. This game right here keeps us in that two- and three-seed conversation.”
The Yellow Jackets and Tigers struggled at the outset offensively with each team making just one shot from the floor apiece in the first quarter, as defense dominated the opening half of play.
Mercedes centers Reeana de la Torre and Hailey Losoya made the early part of the game tough for Edcouch-Elsa in the paint on both ends of the floor. De la Torre and Losoya were able to muscle through smaller Yellow Jacket defenders on drives to the basket and clogged the lane defensively combining for eight points, eight rebounds and three blocks on the night.
Edcouch-Elsa started to find its rhythm in the second quarter, though.
Without outside shots dropping and unable to reliably get to the free-throw line, the Jackets turned to their bread and butter and relied on their pressure defense to set up their transition attack.
“I can’t complain about that. We did a good job in the half court defensively,” Richardson said. “We got out in transition, but we couldn’t finish (consistently). If we can get that figured out, that should translate into another 20 or 25 points that we could have put on the board tonight.”
A mix of full-court presses and smothering zone looks defensively helped the Yellow Jackets gain separation, as the group recorded 12 steals and four different players — Treviño, Villanueva, Mia Flores and Victoria Mireles — each tallied multiple swipes.
That allowed the Jackets to flourish in transition where space and speed helped Treviño, who finished with a game-high 10 points and team-high three assists, and Mireles open up the team’s fastbreak attack.
That allowed Edcouch-Elsa to overcome a 1-of-16 shooting clip at the start of the contest and a shaky night from behind the 3-point arc to finish converting on 10 of the team’s final 20 shot attempts.
Flores, Villanueva and Vida Ybarra, who combined for 19 points and 15 of the team’s 28 rebounds, were invaluable down the stretch, providing the Yellow Jackets with playmaking down low and spacing the floor when the Tigers began double-teaming Treviño.
“We just tell them not to worry,” Richardson said. “We tell them to keep attacking and not worry about (anything else) because then they’re not focused on the game.”
The victory moves Edcouch-Elsa to 15-6 overall and 10-3 in District 32-5A, while Mercedes drops to 8-14 overall and 6-7 in district play.
The loss means the Tigers, who own a one-game lead over Brownsville Pace for 32-5A’s fourth seed and final postseason berth, must win their regular-season finale at Donna High at 5:30 p.m. Friday to be guaranteed a spot in the playoffs.
For the Yellow Jackets, though, their fourth straight win since a loss against Donna in their first game back from quarantine means they will have a chance to leapfrog the Bravettes into second place with a home win over Brownsville Veterans at 6 p.m. Friday.
Edcouch-Elsa came closer than any other 32-5A squad to knocking off the Chargers this season with a 59-57 loss in mid-December in Brownsville.
“We want to see improvement, we want to see our girls compete and we want to see execution,” Richardson said. “We’ve been talking to them about peaking at the right time. We haven’t been playing our best basketball, but (a victory over Brownsville Vets) can get us rolling and peaking at the right time.”
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