Sharyland basketball looks to bounce back after losses to Mustangs
Resiliency is the mind’s fortress. It’s the antidote to chaos and strife. Honing and maintaining it is critical for survival. Few situations in life challenge the mind’s fortitude, quite like sports. And in the Rio Grande Valley, chaos and strife thrive inside the belly of its toughest basketball league, District 31-5A IV. On Tuesday night, the Sharyland Rattlers boys and girls basketball teams lost to the McAllen Memorial Mustangs in a hard-fought doubleheader. On the surface, they appear to be the latest casualties of the district’s carnivorous schedule, but the Rattlers faithful know better. Chaos and strife aren’t plagues to avoid; they’re enemies to vanquish.
Here’s a brief recap of what transpired:
Game 1:
McAllen Memorial Lady Mustangs 49
Sharyland Lady Rattlers 34
A loose ball on the court results in a jump ball. The Lady Mustangs took the win over the Lady Rattlers in tonight’s match up. Progress Times photo by Mario Magallon
The Sharyland Lady Rattlers finished the first round of district play with an above .500 record, touting impressive victories against the McAllen Nikki Rowe Warriors, the McAllen Lady Bulldogs, and the defending Co-district Champions Edinburg Vela Lady Sabercats. The Lady Rattlers have thrived behind the collective effort of a talented backcourt, consisting of the dynamic freshmen trio of Jayleen Berlanga (13 ppg), Alyssa Ramirez (9 ppg), and Alisela Rangel (7ppg) and stitched together by their linchpin senior guard Mariajose Gomez (9 ppg, 7 rpg, 2 apg, 2 spg).
“We know how we’re capable of playing. This is the first game of the second round of district. I told them yesterday that the second round is always a lot tougher than the first round,” Coach Monica Meza said about her team’s prospects and its awaiting challenges.
Heading into Tuesday night’s game, the Lady Rattlers knew they were in for a slugfest. But the lady Mustangs landed the game’s first decisive blow. After a first-quarter stalemate where the Lady Rattlers only trailed by 5, the Lady Mustangs went on a dominant 19-0 run to finish the half. The blitz blanked the Lady Rattlers, who struggled to score and entered the half down 33-9.
“…Obviously, we didn’t have our best offensive game today. I think we were getting the looks and the shots we wanted; they just weren’t falling through the hoop for us. So that’s something we’ve got to figure out moving forward: producing some offense,” Coach Meza said about her team’s offensive struggles.
Lady Rattler’s #2, Mariajose Gomez, attempts to take a jump shot against a Lady Mustang defender. Progress Times photo by Mario Magallon
The Lady Rattlers mounted a slow resistance to slow the Lady Mustangs onslaught led by their senior point guard and top scorer Madison Borjas, who finished with a game-high 14 points along with 8 rebounds and two steals, their aggressive defensive specialist Ann Mabadeje, who tallied 11 points, 12 rebounds, 5 steals and 3 assists, and their cornerstone, Eva Villarreal, who posted 11 points, 9 rebounds, and 4 blocks.
To their credit, the Lady Rattlers put everything together in the fourth quarter and outscored the Lady Mustangs 21-5. Gomez’s decision-making, shot creativity, displayed grit as she willed her team to fight. Gomez ended her night with 7 points, 8 rebounds, and 5 steals. Rangel and Ramirez contributed a combined 10 points and tormented the Lady Mustangs in transition, on the boards, and in half-court offensive sets with their rapacious off-ball movement. The duo combined for 19 points, with 11 scored in the fourth quarter. Alivia Ames and Alexia Chapa also delivered key buckets to lift the Lady Rattlers through the finish line.
“I don’t know if we came out in the first half a little tense for some reason. It seems like we did. And then we loosened up a bit more in the fourth. Unfortunately, by that time, it was a little too late. But it’s a lot easier to shoot when you’re not putting a lot of pressure on yourself. Maybe that’s something we came into the game with, just putting a lot of pressure on ourselves, which caused us to tense up, and I don’t know, but maybe that’s what affected our shots a little bit,” Coach Meza said when reflecting on her team’s late fourth quarter push.
Although the Lady Rattlers lost, their fourth-quarter toughness was a welcome and necessary sight, considering their upcoming schedule. They will travel to McAllen to face the Lady Bulldogs tonight, face the district-leading PSJA North Lady Raiders the following Tuesday, and battle the 5th-place McAllen Nikki Rowe Lady Warriors before rematches with the Lady Sabercats and their crosstown rivals, Sharyland Pioneer Diamondbacks. There’s plenty of basketball left; if the Lady Rattlers want to secure a playoff spot, they’ll need to weather that brutal stretch. And they’ll need to do it while navigating injuries to starters like senior Sophia Mendoza. It’s difficult, but the Lady Rattlers know scared teams don’t receive accolades, rings, and golden basketballs; teams that fight and embrace the unsightly do.
The Lady Rattlers (16-10, 5-4) will fight to avoid a consecutive district loss tonight at McAllen High School against the 7th-place Lady Bulldogs (14-12, 1-6).
“There’s still a lot of basketball left to play, and it could go any way, to be quite honest. We hold our destiny in our hands… We’ve got thirteen girls on our team. It’s a team game, and it’s a next-man-up mentality. Nobody is gonna feel sorry for us. We’re gonna bounce back. We may have had a poor game today, but we’re gonna bounce back and fight until the very end,” Coach Meza said about what to expect from the Lady Rattlers in the future.
Game 2
McAllen Memorial Mustangs 56
Sharyland Rattlers 47
The McAllen Mustangs proved to be a tough opponent in tonight’s match against the Sharyland Rattlers. Progress Times photo by Mario Magallon
In the second game of the evening, the Sharyland Rattlers Boys’ basketball team narrowly lost to the McAllen Memorial Mustangs in a rematch following their pre-district 65-55 victory over them in November. The nine-point defeat was the 12th game the Rattlers played, which was decided by 10 points or fewer. The Rattlers are 4-8 in those matchups. Their season record now stands at (5-17, 2-6) after losing their 7th game in 8 tries.
Although the Rattlers lost, they played tough sideline-to-endline defense, kept pace with the Mustangs’ up-tempo style, and wore down their transition defense. In the half court, the Rattlers successfully exposed the Mustangs’ late weakside rotations, which led to easy buckets on catch-and-shoots and dribble drive penetration.
Noah Garza, #24 of Sharyland, goes up for a jump shot scoring 2 points against the McAllen Mustangs. Progress Times photo by Mario Magallon
The Rattlers followed the lead of their formidable senior trio consisting of maestro point guard Jaden Garcia, tough senior forward Jorge Guerra, who scored 10 crucial points, and cornerstone guard Ryan Salinas, who provided tough perimeter defense and much-needed second-half off-the-dribble scoring. The surprise star of the game was freshman guard Noah Garza. The lightning-quick, sharpshooting freshman jolted the Rattlers in key moments with momentum-swinging buckets and consistent effort.
Despite their success throughout the game, their difficulties replicating their end-of-quarter intensity to start quarters affected them in the first and third quarters, allowing the Mustangs to enter the fourth quarter with an 11-point lead. The Rattlers fought tooth and nail, but Mustang guards Alex Monroy and Evan McGurk were too much to handle. The former finished the game with a game-high 23 points, while the latter poured in an additional 14.
The Rattlers never gave in and battled until the final buzzer on every possession but ultimately fell short. The Rattlers will look to bounce back on the road tonight against the 2nd-place McAllen High Bulldogs (18-8, 6-1). If the team’s senior leadership and young core continue to meld and compete, they could make things interesting in the second half of the season. It might take a herculean effort, but the Rattlers have proven they’re up to the task.
Postgame
The game was hard-nosed, physical, and highly competitive. But its contentiousness didn’t stop at the final buzzer. In the handshake line following the game, on-site administrators were needed to break up an argument between both coaching staffs to prevent a physical altercation. In the confrontation’s aftermath, a combative Danny Moran refused to answer questions. When informed that a no-comment refusal would be printed as a result, Coach Moran’s dismissive disposition turned to anger. As he began to take an aggressive posture, on-site administrators, his players, coaching staff, and the pleas of the Rattler faithful guided him out of the gym.
Although the incident affected coverage of Tuesday night’s game, Progress Times Newspaper is unwaveringly committed to delivering quality sports coverage in service to the public and in efforts to highlight the impressive achievements of local student-athletes. We remain steadfast in our commitment to foster relationships with institutions like Sharyland ISD to continue providing our readers with meaningful and earnest coverage of the children we all love and support.
Representatives from Sharyland ISD issued the following statement:
“Sharyland ISD is committed to excellence, sportsmanship, and the Texas Way. Following a recent away basketball game, our coach prioritized the well-being of our student-athletes over immediate media engagement. We value media coverage and our media partners but remain focused on supporting our students first.”
District 31-5A Standings
With seven games remaining, the Sharyland Rattlers are outside the playoff hunt. To reverse their 10-year playoff drought, the Rattlers will need to act fast for a chance to win the fourth seed. The Sharyland Pioneer Diamondbacks (11-14, 4-3) are in a similar position to last year, occupying the fourth seed behind Edinburg Vela, McAllen High School, and McAllen Memorial. If the Diamondbacks remain consistent, they should be able to hold off the same team they competed against for last year’s fourth seed: the McAllen Nikki Rowe Warriors.
Sharyland Rattlers Remaining Schedule (per SHS athletics):
Tonight: vs McAllen High
Jan 14th: BYE
January 17th: vs McAllen Rowe
January 21st: vs PSJA Southwest
Jan 24th: @ Sharyland Pioneer
January 28th: vs Edinburg Vela
Jan 31st: @ PSJA Memorial
Feb 4th: vs PSJA North
Sharyland Pioneer Diamondbacks’ remaining schedule (per SPHS athletics):
Tonight: vs PSJA Memorial
Jan 14th: @ PSJA North
Jan 17th: McAllen Memorial
Jan 21st: @ McAllen High
January 24th: vs Sharyland High
Jan 28th: @ McAllen Nikki Rowe
Jan 31st: @ PSJA Southwest
Feb 4th: BYE
Feb 7th: @ Edinburg Vela
Feb 11th: @ PSJA Memorial
The UIL 5A State Basketball playoffs begin February 17th.