Memorial beats rival Rowe to win District 30-5A crown

McALLEN — The crowd thinned and the noise faded, making it easy for the barking orders from the coaches to circulate throughout the gym.

Many decided not to stay for the McAllen Memorial-McAllen Rowe girls game Friday at Memorial. Yes, the game lacked the excitement of the boys contest but what transpired was arguably more meaningful for Memorial.

The Lady Mustangs defeated the Lady Warriors 45-22 to clinch the outright District 30-5A title with one regular season game remaining. It comes one year after Memorial shared the league crown with McAllen High.

Fourth-year Lady Mustangs coach Martiza Pedraza played for Memorial when it won four league titles from 1990-1993.

“I experienced this as a player and I really wanted this for the girls,” Pedraza said. “I told the girls that this was going to be another game. We didn’t want to change our game plan. … I really wanted them to have this feeling of not wanting to share this title with anybody.”

Toward the end of the game, the crowd came alive, chanting “District Champs.”

“It feels amazing,” Mustangs guard Tayler Stanton said. “We have been waiting for this all year, and it feels good to finally have this.”

After the contest, Memorial athletic coordinator Bill Littleton presented the team with the district championship trophy to much fanfare from those who stayed. The team was given “We are district champs” shirts.

“They are definitely the best team in our district this year,” said Lady Warriors coach Raul Vega, whose team falls to 14-20 on the season and 7-6 in district. “That is a no-brainer. They should do well in the playoffs. They have a couple of good guards and players that know their roles.”

The guards Vega speaks of are Stanton, who scored a game-high 17 points, and senior Vanessa Delgado, who chipped in with 10.

Memorial (27-7 overall, 13-0 district) jumped out to a 13-2 lead after the first quarter and then cruised the rest of the way. The Lady Mustangs led by as many as 23 and the closest the Lady Warriors would get during the second half was 14.

“They started to click and we just couldn’t keep up with them,” Vega said.

Rowe, which clinched a postseason berth despite the loss, did not score in double-digits in any quarter and had no players score more than 5 points.

“Honestly, it’s the greatest feeling in the world,” Delgado said. “It feels awesome.”

Peter Rasmussen covers high school sports for Valley Freedom Newspapers. You can reach him at (956) 683-4448 or via e-mail at prasmussen@themonitor.com.