Now that all the preliminaries are out of the way, girls high school basketball has kicked into high gear as district play commences. Last Tuesday, in their first district game, the Mission Veterans Lady Patriots started strong with an impressive 29-50 win over Brownsville Veterans.

For Head Coach Rafael Cantu, this first win is just the latest in a season that has him fired up.

“I’m excited about this season and this team,” said Cantu. “We have a large returning group and that experience has helped us in a few games. We’re winning games at the end and holding leads. We’re making plays at the end of games that we need to make.”

Against the Brownsville Veterans Chargers, Cantu’s team certainly seemed the more comfortable team on the floor.

Read more: Lady Patriots win first district game

It is often said that basketball is the roughest non-contact sport there is. You’d be hard-pressed to disagree if you happened to witness the 32-minute scrum in La Joya between the Coyotes and the Edinburg Bobcats Tuesday night.

When the dust had settled and the bodies had picked themselves off the floor for the last time it was Edinburg that came out on top 68-63.

The game began sloppy. Both Edinburg and La Joya fumbled at passes, double-dribbling and fouling their way up and down the court. La Joya’s Alex Alaniz early on seemed to be the only player on the court who could find the net as he put the Coyotes first and last points on the board with mid-range jumpers. At the end of the first quarter, La Joya found themselves ahead by four with a score of 9-13.

The Coyotes seemed intent on not giving up their slim margin as they came out in the second quarter in a full court press that frustrated the Bobcats. However, the frantic press seemed to also inadvertently make the Coyotes manic on offense as well.

Read more: La Joya drops close one against Edinburg

Four years ago Juarez-Lincoln cross country runner  Emily Perez was like any other freshman athlete. Before cross country meets she was nervous, unsure, intimidated and all, apparently, completely without reason. Last weekend, at the UIL state cross country meet at Old Settlers Park in Round Rock, Perez took the silver prize capping a career almost unheard of for a Valley athlete in any sport as she has qualified for state competition four years in a row. Last weekend, she showed once and for all her fears were unfounded.

“My freshman year I was intimidated a lot,” said Perez. “In every race, big or small I was nervous. This year, mentally I’m strong. I have a shot of making the national and my freshman year I would have thought it was impossible.”

Even as recently as last year Perez may have thought making nationals was improbable as she finished fifth in state competition. However, this year is proving to be the breakout culmination of a running career whose accomplishment has extended beyond just its own success.

Read more: Perez adds silver medal to her remarkable running resume

On south Texas ranchland, when a longhorn and a rattlesnake cross paths it usually results in a fight to the death. At Laredo’s Student Activity Center (the SAC) Friday night, it was a fight to the gridiron death as the Laredo United Longhorns’ and the Sharyland Rattlers’ paths crossed in the first round of the Class 5-A Division 1 playoffs. The winner earning the right to move on to the next round of the state playoffs  and the loser having their otherwise successful season come to a much too sudden end.

In what turned out to be an unusually cool evening in Bordertown Laredo, it didn’t take the Longhorns long to get their vaunted offense on track once they received the opening kickoff. With 3,000 yard passer Alec Salas at quarterback, they methodically drove the ball 80 yards down the field on their very first possession.  Running back Derek Esparza capped off the Longhorn drive when he scored his first touchdown of the game and quickly gave the Longhorns a 7 – 0 lead.

Read more: Laredo United closes the season on Sharyland

Sharyland is the lone school in the Mission-La Joya area to make the football playoffs this year. Though any of the other local schools would be thrilled with a 9-1 record, the Rattlers are still nursing their ego after suffering a 28-14 loss to undefeated McAllen Memorial three weeks ago. The game ended a three-year win streak for the Rattlers.

Sharyland came back with another victory last week as they took down the McHi Bulldogs, 38-21, in the team’s final game of the regular season. Big Red finished their regular season the same way they began it, with a win. Although there was very little at stake in the Rattler’s matchup against the McHi Bulldogs, both teams having secured their playoff spots, both still played hard in what was a tune-up for two programs undoubtedly peeking past each other.

Sharyland stalwart quarterback Tres Barrera, did most of the damage with three touchdown runs and throwing 18 completions on 22 attempts for 227 yards and two touchdown passes. Barrera has been the picture of consistency for the Rattlers this year and much of the team’s post-season plans and hopes rest on his shoulders.

Read more: Sharyland takes on Laredo United in bi-district playoff

Rattlers slide past Laredo United

Last Monday High School volleyball playoffs kicked off with the Sharyland Rattlers (31-14) defeating Laredo United for the 30-5A Bi-District Championship which the Rattlers won in four games.

Sharyland started slow, dropping the first game 17-25 and going down by 5 at the start of the second game. But once the lady Rattlers settled in they returned to the form that made them such an imposing team all year winning the next three games 25-17, 25-15, 25-20.

Read more: Volleyball playoffs in full swing