Lady Lobos finish regular season with pink hair, victory

It’s been a special year for the Lopez girls basketball team.

The Lady Lobos, who have qualified for the playoffs for the first time as a Class 5A team, showed off their new pink hair and held off Weslaco High 56-48 in District 32-5A regular-season finale Tuesday night at Lopez.

Lopez (15-14, 9-5), which clinched a playoff spot last Friday, clinched the third seed. Weslaco High (22-12, 11-3), will enter the playoffs as the No. 2 seed.

Lopez had last qualified for the playoffs as a Class 4A team. The Lady Lobos advanced four straight years from 1997 to 2000, the first two years with Lady Lobos coach Minnie (Gutierrez) Tarbet as the starting point guard.

"They set a goal to make the playoffs, and if they made it they were all going to color their hair pink," Tarbet said. "This year’s group has a fight in them, and has never backed down. They have kept pushing and pushing to make the playoffs, and they have done it."

The nine girls on the varsity went to a hairstylist Sunday collectively to color their hair. The color will be a memory of reaching the playoff goal.

Tuesday’s game was a playoff in itself, since both teams will play bi-district games next week. Both teams made tough shots and played strong defense throughout the night

Left-handed speedy point guard Amanda Battles played big for the Lady Lobos, scoring 23 points. Teammate Celina Garcia added 19.

The lead changed hands four times in the first quarter, which ended with Lopez holding an 11-10 lead. The Lady Lobos took the lead for good early in the second quarter, holding a four-point margin at halftime, 29-25. Lopez extended the lead to 46-37 after three quarters.

Weslaco High got within three points, 51-48, with 2:50 to play, but the Lady Lobos controlled the final moments. Battles scored the last three points on free throws and had two steals in the final minute.

For the Lady Panthers, Jiselle de Leon scored 16, Alex Rocha 14 and Kim Marquez 10.

In the boys’ game, Weslaco High used a big 27-point third quarter to power past Lopez 62-45.

The Panthers are now 28-6 and 9-3 in District 32-5A play, while Lopez dropped to 10-18 and 3-9.

Raul Garcia led the Panthers with 19 points. Teammate Julius Marquez tallied 15 and Andrew Rangel 11. Jorge Sosa led Lopez with 10 points.