LA FERIA — One team, one heartbeat, and one love has been the message from day one for the La Feria Lionettes.
As head coach Angel Martinez said, “The ONE concept means that’s you play for one another and that when we play as one we are hard to beat.”
Now that the playoffs are set to begin against Class 4A bi-district opponents Rockport-Fulton at Bishop High School at 6 p.m. today, the Lionettes will need to live that motto and focus on the objective ahead.
“The team’s moral is really great right now since we’ve won six straight games,” said Martinez. “The girls know they have a tough game ahead of them and had a great week of practice. They are zoned in on the game plan.
“Rockport’s girls are big and can shoot, so we need to bring our “A” game tonight. Two years ago we beat Rockport in the first round to advance, so we’re excited and, God willing, we’ll be playing in the area round.”
This season marks the six consecutive year that the Lionettes, who finished 12-2 and in second place in District 32-4A, have made the playoffs.
Last season, the team suffered a heartbreaking 40-38 loss to Beeville Jones and was eliminated in the first round. The season before that (2014-2015), the squad defeated Rockport-Fulton 49-40 in the first round before falling to Boerne 57-35 in the second round.
This year the Lionettes finished the regular season on a six-game win streak. However, they missed out on clinching a share of the league crown by one game. The Lionettes lost two consecutive matches midway through the district season. The first came against Grulla 43-35 and the second was a 30-23 loss to Hidalgo the very next game.
