It was a scene only a few Valley fans could ever experience, and a script Hollywood would have a hard time topping.

Last March, Weslaco and McAllen High played an epic, double-overtime thriller in front of a 4,435 fans at the UTPA Fieldhouse in Edinburg that was ultimately decided by the smallest of margins.

The Bulldogs pulled off a 54-53 win in one of the best basketball games in Valley history as they moved on to San Antonio for the regional tournament, while the Panthers tasted a bittersweet end to an otherwise two playoff wins and a second District 32-5A championship in three years.

“It was the highlight of last season,” Panthers head coach Gabe Valdez said. “To be at that caliber of a game, we use that as motivation to get there again.”

Gone from that team are four starters including Eddie Cantu, Marcus Cabrera, Izzy Aleman and Daniel Ryan with Julius Marquez (averaged 8 points, 6 rebounds in 2008-09) the lone starter back. However, Valdez is optimistic this year’s team is much deeper and more disciplined as the Panthers will make a run at their third league title in four seasons.

Raul Garcia, Andrew Rangel, Rodrigo Verduzco and J.T. Lopez were all strong players who came off the bench last season and produced for Valdez’ club and now get an opportunity as starters. Valdez also had a strong junior varsity team that he will now utilize to fill the void as role players off the bench.

“As far as experience, it does hurt a little bit,” Valdez said. “We’re deeper this year than we were last year….We’ve got a good solid group between 12-14 deep with guys that can do different things.”

Valdez said they’ve got the players to play at any pace from up tempo to a slower half court game in what should be a competitive race with Brownsville Hanna, Los Fresnos and San Benito.

“People think we’ll be down because we lost four starters, seven total, but I think we’ll be alright,” Valdez said.

MERCEDES

The ride in the 2008-09 season was as joyful as it got. The Tigers (26-9 last year) clinched a playoff spot for the first time in 36 years, plus the school went three-deep for the first time in school history before getting knocked off by Calallen and at one point even got ranked 20th in the state. The only thing missing from this impressive resume was a district championship, which Mercedes hopes to accomplish this season.

With the exception of point guard Jonathan Ayala, the starting line-up will average about 6-foot-2 in size with Albert Chavez, Kason Huerta, Daniel Barroso and Robert Salazar all standing at least 6-1.

Huerta is expected to play the small forward while Barroso is penciled in at power forward. The wild card is Chavez, who at 6-3 can play anywhere from 2, 3, 4 or 5 spots. The senior was a strong sixth-man player who still averaged in double figures in scoring and rebounding. For now, head coach Eric Steinbrunner has him as a small forward, but because of his size, strength and God-given ability, the third-year coach may move him around.

“He can do it all,” he said.

Esteban and Omar Gonzalez are expected to give the Tigers a lift off the bench.

“This year, we’ve got a little bit of a target, but the kids look to step up,” Steinbrunner said. 
 
 WESLACO EAST

By the time last season ended, Weslaco East only had eight players dressing up for games as distractions off the court and grades put a dagger to what could’ve easily have been a postseason berth. A good start was then erased with a .500 district record and a fifth place finish as the Wildcats missed the playoffs by one game.

But that was last year. Head coach Art Castillo is confident the Wildcats can compete for a district title.  East has a nice one-two punch coming back in center Juan Jasso (6-3) and shooting guard Kenny Valenzuela. Castillo intends to put the ball in Jasso’s hands to let him work inside. The junior has a high basketball IQ and handles the ball very well, Castillo said.

Castillo wasn’t shy about making a post-season award prediction on his big center.

“(Jasso) Can be an MVP in our district, he’s that good,” Castillo said.

Eric Gutierrez is another player Castillo is high on from last year’s junior varsity squad. The senior has solid ball control skills, and will play point guard quarterbacking the offense.

In a district that features Mercedes, Edcouch-Elsa, Mission, Mission Veterans, Castillo thinks this year’s team can play with anybody.

“I think we’ve got a chance this year to finish first in our district,” he said.

DONNA

A new era begins in Donna. Jose Luis Ojeda moved to the Mid-Valley from Laredo United South where he took them from the bottom to a solid program in just three years. Taking over a program which had won only five games prior to his arrival, Ojeda guided the Laredo school to 19 wins in his final season last year.

Ojeda now takes over a Donna team which ended in fifth place in 2008-09. Right now, Ojeda is getting familiarized with his new ball club, but has a nice place to start with 6-2 center Joshua Rojas and shooting guard Osiel Silva. Junior Isaac Espinoza and senior Benny Garcia could split time at the point guard position or Ojeda might have one play as a shooting guard as he finalizes his rotation. Compared to other schools in the district, the Redskins will be small, but it’s a scenario Ojeda has seen before.

“At Laredo, we had a small line-up and we did well,” he said. “You have to play smart.”

Ojeda is also familiar with District 30-5A having played teams such as McAllen Memorial, Rio Grande City and Palmview.

EDCOUCH-ELSA

While arch-rival Mercedes went on to write history in just about every chapter, Edcouch-Elsa went in the opposite direction. The Yellowjackets missed the playoffs for only the third time under legendary head coach Robert Capello, who is entering his 29th year at E-E and has 956 wins under his belt.

“It’s very disturbing, upsetting,” Capello said of last year. “It’s not like us. Kind of like what our football team is going through right now.”

The program has started from scratch, working on fundamentals and off-season conditioning with what will be a young team. With Capello, E-E fans have gotten accustomed to the “runnin Jackets.” That part will not change with sharp shooters Alex Martinez and Damian Hernandez, both juniors, at the guard spot. Of the combo, Capello said Martinez is the best shooter, but Hernandez is not far behind. With last year a rebuilding year, Capello managed to get Zack Griffith and J.J. Salinas, both sophomores this year, some varsity time in the latter part of the season. Griffith already stands at 6-4 and will play at the post while Salinas, who started three games last year, will play at the point.

“We’ve got a great tradition here at Edcouch-Elsa,” Capello said. “Our team is very coachable.”

LA VILLA

La Villa is looking to play up-tempo basketball along with full-court pressure this season. A young team last year and missing the playoff by one game, the Cards welcome back five letterman, including three starters. Sophomore Ricky Cantu will be the shut down defender and was last season’s team leading scorer with 10 points per game. Sophomore A.J. Garza and junior Alex Galvez make up the post and forward positions respectively each standing at 6-1. Billy Ramirez (6-1) is the lone senior on the team, who is a solid roll player coming off the bench while junior Noel Gutierrez looks to be the team’s top newcomer at point guard.

Head coach Rick Cantu hopes La Villa can repeat what the program did in 2006-07 season where the Cards won district and reached the regional tournament.

PROGRESO 

Jose Luis Mena wants to set the foundation. Having been coaching basketball with the Red Ants in some form
for the last 24 years, Mena gets his second shot of head coaching where he welcomes five players back including two starters. In the 1990s, Mena established Progreso as a respectable program in two seasons before they would eventually capture the schools first-ever district title. 

“Being an assistant for so many years and familiarity with the kids in that aspect helps me out,” Mena said.

With Hidalgo, Rio Hondo and La Feria expected to be the forces in District 32-3A, Mena wants an up tempo scheme. The squad consists of experienced players staring with seniors Lenuel Alvarez at the point and Gabriel Muñoz at center, both of whom played varsity since their sophomore years. Muñoz stands at 6-0 and scored in double figures. In all, Progreso has five players back from last season including the two players mentioned.