Bobcats pull away from South

EDINBURG – Edinburg High point guard Aaron Olvera said winning district championships is a Bobcat tradition.

The Bobcats took the first step in winning their fifth district title in a row by pulling away from Harlingen South 68-56 to remain undefeated in District 31-5A play. Edinburg High (23-6 season, 11-0 district) was paced by Steven Guerrero’s 20 points. Aaron Olvera had 16 points and Marquis Holiday added 15 points.

“This was a big win,” Olvera said. “It’s going to put the pressure on us to win district again.”

The game was tight in the early going and then Edinburg finished strong with a 10-3 run in the final 3:45 to take an 18-11 lead after the first quarter. The Bobcats held the Hawks to two points in the second quarter.

The difference came in the second half. After scoring just eight points in the second quarter, Bobcats coach Zeke Cuellar wanted to see more transition basketball.

“I thought we were playing (the Hawks’) style of play by walking the ball up the court,” Cuellar said.

He even made an adjustment, moving Guerrero – the Bobcats’ two-guard – to the point. Olvera, the regular point guard, still garnered most of the Hawks’ attention and Guerrero reaped the benefits by scoring nine points in the third.

“We thought they would try to tie up Aaron,” Cuellar said. “We stressed at halftime that we needed to push the ball up the floor. We had Steven bring the ball down and that took some of the pressure off of Aaron.”

The teams played evenly in the third with the Bobcats outscoring the Hawks, 17-16. But, it was clear the momentum had shifted and the Hawks couldn’t keep up by the time the fourth quarter hit.

“Edinburg is a great transition team,” Harlingen South coach Brian Molina said. “We knew we couldn’t keep up with them and expect to win.”

The Bobcats took its’ biggest lead, 54-38, on a 3-pointer by Cord Arriola at the 4:22 mark of the fourth quarter. With the Hawks attention directed toward Guerrero, Olvera finished strong by scoring six points in the fourth quarter. Holiday finished off several pick-and-rolls with eight points in the final 4:00.

The Hawks (16-14, 8-3) were led by RaJohn Lassiter’s 25 points. Rico Herrera added 20.

“At halftime, I told our team that we were not out of it and that we were still in the game and we were capable of winning if we could hit a couple of baskets in the third quarter,” Molina said. “But Edinburg speeded up the tempo, and that hurt us.”