By ALBERT VILLEGAS
Special to the NEWS
EDINBURG, TX—The Rio Hondo Lady Bobcats have dominated opponents in the friendly confines of their gymnasium and those of their foes alike, but this time they took their show to the Bert Ogden Arena. The result was the same – a District 32-3A victory.
This time, their familiar foe, two days after the New Year, was the Raymondville Lady Bearkats. The victory came by a narrow margin, 64-60. Coupled with a 56-42 road victory on Dec. 30 against the Santa Rosa Lady Warriors, the Lady ’Cats are proving they are still the district queens to beat.
“We’ve had some tough competition in this first round of district play,” Rio Hondo Head Coach Victor Sauceda said. “The girls have faced some adversity and have found ways to overcome them and get the wins.
The defending district champion has a 6-0 record in district. Their four other victories have come against IDEA Frontier College Prep (82-6), Progreso (90-28), Lyford (42-40), and IDEA Riverview (47-19).
But, Rio Hondo sits atop the district standings just ahead of the Lyford Lady Bulldogs, who are 6-1; then Raymondville and Santa Rosa, both at 4-2.
“I hope these experiences will help us as we start the second round of district play starting next week,” Coach Sauceda said.
Rio Hondo is 18-1 on the year and, according to the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches poll, is ranked No. 6.
The Lady ’Cats were also ranked in the top 10 of this poll a season ago.
On the boys’ side, more than halfway through the district portion of their schedule, the Rio Hondo Bobcats are still in contention for a playoff berth. But, it’s crowded as their 3-2 record has them tied with three other teams (IDEA Riverview, Santa Rosa, and Raymondville).
“We (still) have a winning district record right now. We have an opportunity to finish the first round of district and possibly go 6-3 to end the first round,” Rio Hondo Head Coach Mike Alvarez said.
The Bobcats’ five district games were against Progreso (won 87-25), Lyford (lost 57-37), IDEA Riverview (lost 42-35), Santa Rosa (won 55-52), and Raymondville (won 50-46).
“They are still very much alive in the playoff hunt. We have to continue building trust between us. Understand that getting better each game is the goal to playing our best basketball come the end of district,” Coach Alvarez said. “We can only control what we can control, so we just gotta focus on ourselves, and things should start falling into place.”
Rio Hondo is 6-9 on the year.
Recent Comments