Lady Coyotes looking ahead after tough home defeat
Tuesday night at La Joya High School, the La Joya Lady Coyotes basketball team lost a stunner to the La Feria Lady Lions (9-4) by a final score of 40-30. Guards Debany Garza, Calixtra Gandaria, junior center Jaida Flowers, and do-it-all senior wing Cynthia Longoria were lifelines for the Lady Coyotes against the talented, hard-nosed, and more experienced Lady Lions. Despite the absence of Brianna Reyna and Berenice Gonzalez, two integral pieces of their frontcourt, they dominated the paint for significant stretches of the second and third quarters before turnovers and other costly mistakes sunk their hopes of defeating their pesky visitors.
“Hats off to La Feria. They came in, they were ready to play, and unfortunately, we took the loss,” Lady Coyotes’ head coach Juan Gonzalez said after the game.
Even an untrained eye could spot the climate of the low-scoring, defensive-minded affair. It was a very familiar weekday night: Two teams, one 4-A, one 6A, and one small, quaint gym with no more than 100 fans, almost all intimately connected to the game. It was democratic and blue-collar; it was poetic and contradictory. There were moments of brilliance and silliness. It was everything a basketball game should be.
The Lady Coyotes fell behind in the first quarter as they struggled to adjust to La Feria’s defensive pressure, which was led by the Lady Lions’ hard-nosed backcourt. Rianna Gonzalez, Alessandra Torres, and Danyelle Saldivar bothered and harassed the young Lady Coyotes all night with sideline-to-end line ball pressure that turned controlled havoc into easy buckets. And when the Lady Coyotes were able to decipher the scheme, they failed to cash in.
“At the beginning of the game, they had up a three-quarters press that we were breaking with ease, but the problem was that we couldn’t convert on that easy backside layup. And on top of that, the two girls we’re missing are pretty big. One of them averages 10 or 12 points, and the other one averages another 10. We lost by 10. So if you factor those two in, it’s a totally different ball game,” Gonzalez said when discussing his team’s struggles.
To their credit, the Lady Coyotes battled out of their first-quarter slump and went on a 7-0 run midway through the second. Garza, who finished with 11 points, complimented Longoria’s genius and leadership and helped alleviate their offensive woes by extending the Lady Lion’s defense. Longoria finished the game with 10 points after scoring 8 in the second half. Flowers’ defensive effort and facilitation on offense were revelations for a Coyotes team short on bigs.
When the second half began, the Lady Coyotes maintained their lead until their bad first-quarter habits reappeared, giving the Lady Lions an edge. Danyelle Saldivar’s defensive prowess and nine fourth-quarter points blindsided the Lady Coyotes, who were reeling just minutes before.
“Instead of going up in the fourth quarter by 7 or 8, we were only up two. And now they have all the momentum…they got the best of us. But that’s why we play the game,” Gonzalez said when reflecting on his team’s fatal stretch of basketball.
The Lady Coyotes’ struggles overtook their comeback effort before it even started. One final push nearly brought them back, but it wasn’t enough, especially with the Lady Lions exploiting their overaggressive defense to force their way to the charity stripe.
It wasn’t fun, it might’ve been baffling or even painful at times, but the Lady Coyotes valiant performance and optimistic post game demeanor was indicative of a team unwilling to let failure win.
With the loss, the Lady Coyotes fall to 7-11. They will finish 2024 against the Brownsville Hanna, Corpus Christi Veterans Memorial, Hidalgo, and Los Fresnos on New Year’s Eve before beginning district play at home against the always-tough Weslaco East Lady Panthers.
The Lady Coyotes aren’t discouraged but aware of the challenges ahead. They’ve simply chosen to ignore the risk involved.
“Even though we’re young, I expect to contend for a playoff spot. I feel like we’re gonna play everyone in our district tough. We’re in a good place to earn a playoff spot. And no one is going to give it to us. We have to earn it. We’re going to be solid for a couple of years. But it starts off slowly, and you can’t just blow everyone out. There’s gotta be games and experience. They learn from it, and then you go from there,” Gonzalez said about his expectations for this year’s Lady Coyotes.
The Lady Coyotes will look to rebound tonight in Brownsville against the Brownsville Hanna Lady Eagles (7-10).