West sweeps all-star games

EDINBURG -- Throughout the high school basketball season, Hidalgo coach Monica Rodriguez always enforced man-to-man defense and relentless pressure on the opposing team.

Her coaching philosophy proved to be the difference in Sunday's RGVBCA All-Star Game as her West Girls All-Star team defeated Harlingen High's Nora Zamarripa East All-Stars 56-35.

"I think everyone did an excellent job today," Rodriguez said. "Everyone in uniform deserved to be here and it was just a great honor to coach the West All-Star team."

The East All-Star team played without their standout guard from Harlingen South Bianca Torre, who is now a three-time All-Star player, due to an appendix removal on Friday that left her sidelined for the game.

"These things happen," Torre said. "I'm kinda sad but the way I look it is that it happened now and thankfully not in the season. I was supposed to be out there but oh well. I'm beginning a new chapter in my life."

The West applied constant pressure on the East forcing six turnovers during the first half. The West led by as many as 13 points in the first half and extended the lead with a 13-2 run late in the second half to secure the win.

The West was led by Hidalgo standout Victoria Gonzalez, who recorded 12 points and five blocks.

"It was great game for us," Gonzalez said. "The main thing was just to have fun. This was our last game so we wanted to finish strong and have lots of fun at the same time."

For the Boys All-Star Game, the West proved to be too much for the East to handle as Edinburg High's Jaime Acuna tallied 12 points and four steals to lead the West to a 74-59 win over the East.

"Everybody wanted to win because this is the last time we will ever play on a high-school court," Acuna said. "It's sad but there is more to life than just basketball."

The West jumped on the East right from the beginning of the game as they took a 13-point lead heading into halftime. The West led by as many as 20 points early in the second half.

But Weslaco High's Eddie Cantu, who had a game-high 20 points, rallied the East team to a 12-0 run with 11:10 remaining in the game. But the West defense buckled down and created turnovers that turned into easy points, which secured the win.