Historic Playoff Run

As the buzzer sounded and another basketball season concluded for Weslaco East, it marked the end of an illustrious season for the Wildcats as the team wrote school history.

Never before had East won as many games (26). Along the way, the Wildcats emerged as co-district champs with Roma and managed to go three-deep in the playoffs. Not bad for a team that played .500 ball heading into the holiday break.

Then came the turning point.

East hosted the Christmas Holiday Classic tournament and a field that didn’t include the Rio Grande Valley’s basketball powerhouses. But the tourney did wonders for the Wildcats as the team reeled off four wins to capture first place in the tourney, a momentum builder that set the stage for the rest of the season.
 Counting the tournament, East blasted off to win 19 of its last 21 games, including two playoff wins over Laredo LBJ and Uvalde. 

“It was a lot of hard work and it paid off,” said head coach Art Castillo. “I thought it was a great year. I’m very proud of the kids with what they accomplished.”

Senior leadership was a strong value to the team which finished fifth last year with only eight players on the roster. Starters Alonso Salinas, Eric Gutierrez, Kenny Valenzuela, Juan Jasso and Frank Ramirez would develop the proper formula the team lacked last year.

“We had kids that either they stepped down or were removed due to grades or discipline,” Castillo said. “That was the case the last two seasons, but the main thing is this group this year really liked each other. They didn’t want to let somebody else down.”

With senior leadership came senior toughness. Salinas separated his shoulder just after the New Year arrived, but instead of throwing in the towel to his senior season, he elected to play with the pain and still perform a high level where he was among the team leaders in assists.

“I have a lot of respect for that kid,” Castillo said. “He did not want to miss any games in his senior season. He played with a lot of pain in games and in practice.”

With four of the five players enjoying at least some starter experience, Weslaco relied on role and junior varsity players the year before to have a shot at a successful 2009-10 season. Fortunately for Gabe Valdez’ troops, a strong start to the season enabled the Panthers to play playoff caliber basketball and end the season once again with more than 30 wins. Julius Marquez was the lone senior with starting experience while the rest were juniors including Raul Garcia, who ended the season as the team’s leading scorer.

The Panthers ended district play tied for second place with Brownsville Porter and the season was highlighted by a bi-district playoff win over Harlingen on the road.

“Nobody expected us to be there,” Valdez said. “We went 31-7 and had some of the biggest games against great teams.”

Ending a 36-year playoff drought didn’t come without a nice three-deep ride for Mercedes last season. With a core group back, the season looked promising in the pre-season. Unfortunately for the Tigers like what happened to the Wildcats last season, not all the players finished the season. The good news is the club moved on and managed to secure a playoff spot for the second-straight season.