Harlingen's Zamarripa earns 700th career victory

EDINBURG — Nora Zamarripa needed to find her mother.

Amid the celebration that ensured shortly after the Harlingen High Lady Cardinals handed their coach her 700th career victory with a 49-46 win over Edinburg North on Friday, Zamarripa looked for the woman who had been with her through each step of a coaching career that dates to 1982 at Edinburg High.

She wanted to find the woman that nearly didn’t get a chance to see that 700th victory. Once Zamarripa located Joyce Williams, her mother, she burst into tears.

“My mom almost passed away last year,” Zamarripa said. “This was really a blessing. I’m glad she got to see the 700th win.”

Last October, Williams was in ICU and her family was close to making the painful decision of taking her off life support.

“We had a prayer group praying, and I went into ICU to talk to her, and she opened her eyes and squeezed my hand,” Zamarripa said. “If you would have seen her then … it’s just a miracle.”

Several of Zamarripa’s former players, from both Edinburg High and Harlingen High, were in attendance at the Edinburg North gym on Friday. Following a confetti shower, Zamarripa posed with a banner that commemorated the milestone game and she was presented with a cake. Then, she looked for her mother.

“It’s a great milestone, but there are so many young ladies between Edinburg High School and Harlingen High School that have played some great basketball and made some great memories,” said Zamarripa, who began coaching at Edinburg in 1982 before heading to Harlingen in 1988.

Attaining that milestone victory wasn’t easy. Edinburg North fought back from huge deficits at two different points. The Lady Cougars (18-12, 8-3 district) went on a 13-4 run to tie the game at 24 in the second quarter. In the fourth quarter, Edinburg North fought back from a 10-point hole to take its first lead since the early stages of the game at 44-43 following a layup by Vicky Peña at the 4:57 mark. Peña scored 11 of her 23 points in the fourth quarter. The Lady Cardinals stepped up their defense from there and didn’t allow another Edinburg North field goal the rest of the way.

“Edinburg North is a good basketball team, and I love Vicky,” Zamarripa said. “She’s a great player, and I knew they were going to bring their best possible game. They played their hearts out. That was a great way to have a game go. It was just phenomenal.”

Harlingen High (27-4) inched closer to securing its first district championship since 2004 by improving to 11-0 in 31-5A.

Demmee Rodriguez helped secure the game for the Lady Cardinals by making 4 of 6 free throws in the final 1:50.

“The only thing that was going through my head is that I wanted to make these shots for my coach and get her the win that she deserves,” Rodriguez said. “It’s an honor to be in the atmosphere, especially for my coach. It’s a really big accomplishment to help our coach get her at 700th win.”

Bianka Martinez, who finished with 12 points and 11 rebounds for Harlingen High, said one of the biggest things Zamarripa has taught her is perseverance. That came into play on Friday as Harlingen High had trouble putting away Edinburg North.

“She always teaches us to never give up and to push through mentally,” Martinez said. “She’s a very deserving coach. We really love her and we really appreciate everything she does for us.”

Rodriguez finished with 12 points and Alexis Martinez had 13 points. For Edinburg North, Peña had nine rebounds to go with her 23 points. Dulce Peña had 10 points.

Edinburg North coach Jenny Rae Gaytan-Garcia played against Zamarripa’s Lady Cardinals when she was in high school at Edinburg during the 1990s. She said Zamarripa is a pioneer in girls high school basketball in the Valley.

“She’s changed girls basketball in the Valley,” Gaytan-Garcia said. “It’s because of her that we have such good basketball.”

David Hinojosa covers girls high school basketball for Valley Freedom Newspapers. You can reach him at (956) 683-4442 or via email at dhinojosa@themonitor.com