By ALBERT VILLEGAS
Special to the NEWS
Girls who are competing for the San Benito and Rio Hondo high school basketball programs are getting an early start to enhance their skills on the court.
They are part of a summer league organized by those associated with basketball programs at schools throughout the area, including Brownsville, Los Fresnos, and Harlingen.
All games are played in San Benito.
Summer league coaches for Rio Hondo (Charlie Rodriguez) and San Benito (Abel Issac Moreno, Jr.) said team stats aren’t kept, but records are.
“The summer league has been held in the past, and once again it gives the girls an opportunity to play against others they will see once they play at their high schools,” Moreno said. “This part of the year, as far as basketball, is about development on the court and how each one may fit on a team as they get closer to competing for their schools.”
The league spans five weeks, with girls and teams comprising of Brownsville (Pace, Rivera, Veterans Memorial, and St. Joseph Academy), Harlingen (South), and Los Fresnos.
An end-of-season tournament is being held on Thursday, June 25, at SBHS and Veterans Memorial Academy (VMA) ninth-grade campus.
The league is not affiliated with the University Interscholastic League, so coaches and their staff from SBHS (Abel Moreno) and RHHS (Victor Sauceda) are not permitted to serve on the teams. High school coaches are allowed to watch games only as spectators.
The San Benito team consists of returning lettermen for SBHS Head Coach Abel Moreno. They are Hailey Dávila, Aaliyah Oyervides, Emily Martinez, Marcela Garcia, Chanel Andrade, Annabella Garza, and Kaitlyn Faz.
Newcomers include Rosalie Mercado, Reyzinne Chavez, Faith Gomez, Jocelyn Zimmerman, Madilyn Quiroz, Rebecca Sánchez, and Loren Flores.
The Rio Hondo team consists of Carlie Rodriguez, Jilli Sauceda, Klarissa Padilla, Samantha Flores, Jade Mata, Annette Sandoval, and Jordan Lopez.
Last week’s scores from games played on June 10 were: Los Fresnos 32, Rio Hondo 23; San Benito 30, Veterans Memorial 10; Los Fresnos 55, Veterans Memorial 9; and San Benito 36, Rio Hondo 26.
It’s rare to see a girls’ team from Rio Hondo on the losing end twice in one day. Some of the girls are new, according to Coach Rodriguez.
They are blending in with Carlie Rodriguez, too, who has arguably been the Rio Grande Valley’s best scorer.
RHHS has also consistently been ranked among the top teams in the state.
“Basically, in both games, we came out leading and ended up losing by about eight to 10 points; we only have four returning varsity girls, with three up-and-coming freshmen,” Coach Rodriguez said. “We are young and showed it in the first game against San Benito. After some adjustments, we looked much better against Los Fresnos.”
He said there is a lot of work ahead for the girls this summer and into the fall, when they begin competing at RHHS.
“They use the summer league to get it together,” Coach Rodriguez said.
Games at SBHS on June 24 are as follows: 5:30 p.m. — San Benito vs. Veterans; 6:15 p.m. — Rivera vs. Harlingen South; 7 p.m. — San Benito vs. Rivera; 7:45 p.m.– Veterans vs. Harlingen South.
Games at VMA on June 24 are as follows: 5:30 p.m. — Los Fresnos vs. Rio Hondo; 6:15 p.m. — Pace vs. St. Joseph; 7 p.m. — Los Fresnos vs. Pace; 7:45 p.m. — Rio Hondo vs. St. Joseph.
The cost per person to enter is $2. The funds raised are returned to the teams that travel from outside San Benito.