The PSJA High Bears were among seven high school girls basketball squads to earn statewide rankings in the latest edition of the Texas Girls Coaches Association polls released Monday.
PSJA High (19-3) battled its way back into the TGCA’s Class 6A rankings and earned the No. 25 spots after knocking off the then-11th-ranked Edinburg High Bobcats and losing to the rival PSJA North Raiders last week to close the regular season.
The Bears re-enter the Class 6A poll for the first time since mid-December when they held the TGCA’s No. 9 ranking.
Edinburg High fell out of the rankings after dropping its regular-season finale to PSJA High in its only game action last week. Harlingen High (20-2), meanwhile, shot up the TGCA Class 6A poll climbing 15 spots to 8th in the state, a new season high after beating Brownsville Hanna to close out the regular season.
The Bears will face the Weslaco High Panthers (19-4) in the bi-district round of the 6A state playoffs at 7 p.m. Friday in San Juan, while the Cardinals will clash with the Edinburg Vela SaberCats (11-7) at the same time in Edinburg.
Three Class 5A teams across the Rio Grande Valley — Rio Grande City, Sharyland Pioneer and Brownsville Veterans — all earned TGCA rankings for the second consecutive week after each secured a district championship.
Rio Grande City (18-2) finished an unbeaten run through 30-5A by topping La Joya Palmview and Laredo Martin to hold on to its No. 17 ranking for the second straight week. The Rattlers will battle Corpus Christi Flour Bluff in their bi-district round game at 6:30 p.m. Friday in Falfurrias.
Sharyland Pioneer (18-2) moved up three spots to No. 21 after completing an unbeaten run through 31-5A by picking up wins over McAllen Memorial and Valley View. The Diamondbacks will host Brownsville Pace (8-11) in the Class 5A bi-district round at 7:30 p.m. Friday.
Brownsville Veterans (21-3) dropped one spot down to No. 22 overall in the TGCA’s 5A poll after beating Pace and losing to Edcouch-Elsa en route to locking up 32-5A’s district title. The Chargers will travel to play McAllen High (11-10) in their bi-district contest at 7 p.m. Friday.
In Class 4A, Rio Hondo (15-0) moved up one spot from 9th to 8th after winning the District 32-4A championship and completing a perfect regular season. The Bobcats and Harlingen Cardinals have now tied for the highest TGCA ranking for an RGV team at any classification level so far this season.
Rio Hondo will take on Alice in the bi-district round of the Class 4A state playoffs at 6:30 p.m. Thursday in Rio Hondo.
In Class 3A, the Donna IDEA Titans fell out of the TGCA rankings while the Lyford Bulldogs (21-4) moved up two spots to No. 19 after completing district play.
The Bulldogs will have a bye in the bi-district round of the 3A state playoffs after their slated opponent, Brownsville Jubilee, elected to cancel its season prematurely.
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