LA JOYA — It took a buzzer-beating 3-pointer in a play-in game for La Joya High to qualify for last year’s postseason as a No. 4 seed.
The Coyotes (22-3, 13-2 in district) left no doubt about their playoff chances this season by winning the District 31-6A championship, the program’s first district title in 16 years.
La Joya kept its strong season rolling Saturday by winning just its third bi-district win in team history with a 67-51 first-round victory over Harlingen South.
As the Coyotes cut down the nets twice this season, celebrating their accomplishments, head coach Eric Montalvo looked on in a state of joy and remembrance.
More than 20 years ago, Montalvo was a player on two La Joya teams that won a district championship (1999) and a bi-district championship (1998).
“It was amazing to see the kids set a goal, work for it, accomplish it and see their smiles. It was gratifying so they could see the hard work we preach pay off,” Montalvo said. “I’m a big believer that hard work pays off. That’s how I was as a player, and that’s how I am as a coach. Watching them cut the nets down, that’s all I could think of. Every day coming in, especially with the pandemic, sacrificing, it was all worth it.”
When this year’s group of seniors were freshmen and sophomores on varsity, La Joya was finishing towards the bottom of the district standings with wins hard to come by. Since then, the Coyotes have grown into one of the Rio Grande Valley’s top teams this year.
“It feels good knowing we all came from the bottom together, and now we’re one of the best teams in the Valley. Having the La Joya parents and community behind us, it’s great,” senior guard Cesar Villarreal said.
“It’s been a long process, waking up early in the morning and grinding. A lot of years where we didn’t really win, we were really getting blown out to be honest,” senior post Bernie Vera said. “All that adversity, all that bad stuff that we went through when we were younger helped prepare us for our senior season to be where we’re at right now.”
Vera and Villarreal, along with fellow senior JC Barrientos and sophomore Ethan Moya, have led the Coyotes’ fast-paced and free offensive attack this season. Any one of La Joya’s players, from positions 1-5, possesses the ability to push the ball up court and send it flying around in search of an open shot.
Vera, the team’s big man, is averaging 18.2 points and 9.9 rebounds this season. Villarreal is close behind with 15.5 points, 4.9 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game. The sophomore Moya has filled every category of the stat sheet by averaging 11.3 points, 7 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 2.2 blocks this season, while Barrientos adds 9.3 points as a lethal shooter from range.
“It comes with trusting each other. There’s not many 5s that are taking the ball up court,” Villarreal said. “We all just trust each other and believe in each other to make the right play. We just motivate each other and keep playing, no matter what happens.”
Next for the Coyotes is a Class 6A area playoff matchup against San Antonio Harlan, which beat Laredo Alexander 64-56 in the bi-district round to advance.
Tip-off between La Joya and San Antonio Harlan is set for 7 tonight at Corpus Christi Veterans High School.
