BY GREG SELBER

EDINBURG – Coming from a gutty junior who has always used terrific defense as her calling card, 41 points in a game would seem to be a fantastic misprint. But as Edinburg’s Laura “LT” Torres continues to refine her skill set, she averages 15 a night with the same dynamic, in-your-face stop routine against enemy offenses. Yes, she recorded 40-and-1 against P-SJ-A Memorial Tuesday, but says that she never goes out on the court dreaming about points. This powerpack wants the loose ball…and usually gets it.

“No, I never think about stuff like that, scoring points…I just come to play,” said Torres, whose 26-point effort led the Lady Bobcats to a 51-45 slugfest win over 31-5A rival Harlingen here Friday night. “After this game, I am hurting a little, that was a very physical game, both Harlingen teams are like that, they play hard. But points? Nah, I wasn’t trying to duplicate that.”

Modesty aside, it was nonetheless up to the junior guard to once again pull off a big night, O and D, with Harlingen coming to town intent on taking advantage of a wounded Lady ‘Cat contingent.

Senior Anaka Garcia, reduced to coaching and cheerleading roles after suffering a broken foot Monday in practice, made a big hole in the lineup with her absence. She’d averaged 11 rebounds a game, good for third in the Valley, scored 12 a night, and even brought the ball down the court a handful of times each game for Coach Rachel Carmona.

Seeing Garcia on crutches for the second game in a row was tough for the Lady Bobcats, while Harlingen, 4-4 coming in and needing a win to keep their playoff hopes rolling against the 6-1 Lady Bobcats, was sure to notice the change.

But Garcia, a four-year varsity performer who toiled diligently to get ready for her senior year and came to camp in the best shape of her life, had insisted before the game that her teammates were going to pick up the slack.

“No, I think it is going to be OK, they all have their jobs to do and someone is going to step up and play,” said Garcia during pregame shooting drills, as she used a crutch to stop an errant ball and re-direct it back onto the court.

Torres, who would be called upon to produce another high-scoring night, later said that despite the depressing injury to her long-time pal, this was not going to derail the EHS effort.

“We have to keep playing hard, I mean, we miss Anaka a lot, and she’s a great player,” said Torres, who smiles easily off the court but is all business, down and dirty, on it. “We have to prove that we still have what it takes, without her. Next year, she’ll be graduated and we will be here, so right now we have to start picking it up, no matter what.”

WHO’S IT GONNA BE?

When a star goes down, somebody gets a chance to show what they can do, such is the ironic nature of the sports injury. One player’s disaster is quietly another’s moment to come up to scratch. As EHS began the night against a Harlingen team it was more than faintly acquainted with after three previous meetings, the surprise card in the hole was a freshman.

One look at Mercelita Michellin screams basketball, as she is nearly 5-10 and has exceptionally long arms. She can run like the wind and jump higher than most upperclassmen, so they only thing missing in her promising resume is experience. There ain’t no way to get it, but to get it, so there was the lanky youth, winning the opening tap for the Lady ‘Cats. Soon she would contribute three blocked shots and four points in the early going, presenting well to the spot down low, flying at opponents on D, and generally acquitting herself like someone who wants more minutes.

“She did well for us tonight,” said Torres of the freshman big. “And she’s just a baby, really. You watch, she is going to get way better in time, she’s super fast.”

With Mercy taking over for Garcia, and Torres starting off like a racehorse with 11 first-quarter points (points, what points, says the defensive specialist), Edinburg assumed a 15-8 lead. Outside of a 1-point loss to the Lady Cards at the Jostens Classic in December, EHS had handled its adversary well the other two times, including 49-29 during 31-5A’s first round. But that was with Garcia in the mix. As strong as the freshman Michellin is, she does not have varsity lungs yet and spent much of the rest of the half shuttling in and out, trying to rest up on the bench.

Down a player on crutches, the Lady ‘Cats had struck first blood. But there was a rejoinder coming.

In Harlingen’s win over EHS at the Jostens, the team had come came from 16 down in the second half to take a thrilling victory it on a 3-pointer from Martinez inside the final 10 seconds. The fullcourt press had rattled the Lady ‘Cats, and one suspected that the Lady Cards might just resort to that tactic again, as it is a formidable and usual weapon in their arsenal.

They did show the pressure, but only for a few minutes in each half, preferring to settle into the halfcourt set and employ their excellent passing game to work patiently for shots. The Adams Twins, Megan and Ashley, are workaholic types who move without the ball constantly and keep the pill moving as well, trying to find the open player off the backdoor cut.

To start the second period, though, the press was on, and it bothered Edinburg. Demmie Rodriguez, a sophomore lightning bug in baggy shorts, keyed the charge. From that 7-point deficit, on came the Lady Cards, with Ashley Adams raining in three jumpers for six point in the quarter, which culminated with the home girls on top, but just 17-16. Soph Bianka Martinez began to feel the game with a high-arching jumper and a blocked shot on Emma Lopez of EHS.

Harlingen got into sync while EHS faltered against the fullcourt traps, and after a 16-6 quarter in their favor, the Lady Cards took a 28-23 lead into the halftime rest. Rodriguez, who has the fastest first step this side of Neshae Owens, began to dissect the defense with her penetrating ability, scoring eight in the second period. For EHS, there was just one basket in the eight minutes of play, from Torres, plus four free throws.

After such a great beginning, the Garcia-less group had lost the mojo, and faced an uphill struggle for the final 16 minutes to come.

“We have a coach who expects us to win and that makes a huge difference,” said Torres, who added that the kids on the roster have learned to expect the same thing. “I for one don’t want to let Coach Carmona down, you know what I mean?”

And true, this match Friday paired two of the winningest coaches in the business, Rachel Carmona of Edinburg and Nora Zamarripa of Harlingen, who have combined for over 1,000 wins between them. Their district fights are always fierce and their pregame strategy brainstorms legendary. They tend to ignore each other during the game, though each knows the other is trying to see into her brain as it ticks away. Fun stuff from two classics of the game. Fun for us civilians, murder for them.

In carving out the 5-point lead, Harlingen had been sharper with the pass, and stronger on defense after a sluggish first four minutes. But in the third, the pride of the EHS five was apparent as Bianca Casas, quiet in the first half, turned it on. She has a damn fast pair of feet herself, and has gotten more adept in her junior year with the head-up dribble, quick change of direction with a well-time behind-the-back dribble, and fast feed for two. With Garcia out, Casas is going to be called on to carry some of her load, along with Torres; those two are the bell cows now, no two ways around it.

Casas came up with a steal, hoop, and-one to get her team off and running, and when she scored on an inbounds play the game was knotted at 30 at 4:28. So much for the Harlingen momentum, it seemed. That’s when Torres started to dominate and again, she is not just a defensive stopper these days; she’s scoring in bunches with hard drives to the goal and buckets of free throws after drawing contact. LT creates enough contact to control the defender, and uses the combination of a quick burst and ample leg strength to blow by to the goal.

She made it 36-34 with a powerful move off the dribble, Edinburg leading. This after Harlingen had been in front, 30-23, on a Rodriguez deuce. But Zamarripa’s gals went cold from there, managing just eight markers in the period against 19 for the hard-running Lady ‘Cats. Torres zoomed and bruised her way past the defense for six, and Casas netted eight as Edinburg took charge.

Steph Nunez missed a trey for EHS but there was Torres, knocking a few opponents out of the play for an offensive rebound. LT is naturally strong, and the effect is more so due to her aggression, which borders on the unreal. Play after play, she is just the first girl to the loose ball, and is not shy about “protecting” herself with an elbow here or there. Or there. Or here.

Suffice to say that if she keeps this double-time dance up, Torres is going to be among the favorites for All-Valley Player of the Year next year. Or this. Anyway…

After rebounding Nunez’ miss, Torres alertly shoveled to Casas underneath for a 42-36 lead after three. Surely there would be another Harlingen surge coming, because a loss at this stage would sink the Lady Cards into the danger zone, as they came into Friday’s fight just a game up on P-SJ-A for the fourth and final playoff spot from 31-5A.

And the hero of the comeback try was Danyella Rodriguez, a junior with some pop to her inside game. She had six points and four grabs off the glass as Harlingen crept closer, getting to within two at 44-42 after she converted two free throws.

But here, senior Victoria Ponce, playing well the last two weeks but not a factor Friday, made her only basket of the night to make the lead four. Who’s it gonna be? Trouble stirs the best in some kids, at the right time.

The Lady Cards kept churning, but missed a total of four easy tosses inside, bringing back nightmares of the team’s loss to Edinburg North earlier in the week.

“We couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn,” Zamarripa had moaned about the 54-42 home defeat. Friday’s close offered more of the same heartburn.

The closest they got was 48-44 late on a free throw from Demmie Rod. With Torres banging in her team’s last seven to end with 26, that was that. The third win in four tries for a team that faced the adversity of a major injury with moxie.

Garcia seemed fired up throughout, hopping on the good foot into team huddles during timeouts, without crutches. Before the game began, she’s smiled wanly when reminded that despite the surgery that ended her high school career, no one would be able to take away the hard work she put in for four seasons with the Lady Bobcats.

So they go on without her, knowing that they’re 12 points and 11 rebounds down before they start each game. Still, with the surprising baby Michellin, the suddenly multi-superb Torres, and a long tradition of winning, EHS cannot be counted out yet. Friday should remind one of that.

Tags: basketball, cardinals, edinburg, harlingen