BY GREG SELBER

ROMA – Dec. 22, 1962. Peanuts comic strip. Linus and Charlie Brown are silent for three panels, brooding…until Charlie Brown says, “Why couldn’t McCovey have hit that ball three feet higher?”

The McCovey was of course slugging first baseman Willie of the San Francisco Giants, who in the World Series that October had come perilously close to being the hero. It was classic clutch, bottom of the ninth, Giants down one in Game Seven to the hated Yankees. With Willie Mays on second and Matty Alou on third, McCovey absolutely murdered what looked the game- and Series-winning hit. But the ball nestled into the glove of New York second sacker Bobby Richardson, hence the piteous lament from Charles M. Schultz’ famous cartoon characters.

Now, none of the Edinburg Bobcats were even close to being alive when McCovey’s bid for eternity was turned away. Maybe their PARENTS were not with us, actually. But long will they sit around and stew, like Linus and Charlie Brown, about the one that got away. This one will be replayed for a lifetime, after the Bobcats got two good looks down the stretch, only to lose to Laredo United with a trip to the regional tournament on the line.

They had rallied from a 17-point second-period deficit after United, the state’s No. 4 team, had simply shot the lights out with eight three-pointers in the first half. Left to die like roadkill on the interminable route to wayward Roma, the ‘Cats had risen from the depths to charge to within a deuce at 68-66 with a minute left.

Minutes earlier, Aaron Olvera, the marvelously skilled junior, had nailed a three-point look to make it a 2-point game, with United obliging with a subsequent turnover. Now, AO drove the lane, took the ball up and down and around a defender, finding himself at the rim, somewhat unmolested. But his dipsy-doo lefty try hit the board and failed by an inch to English-climb above the rim and into the net.

Later, Stevie Guerrero, with nine seconds left in a three-point game, got a solid look from three-point range but barely missed. Just like that, the season was over for Edinburg, after 29 wins, and it marked the third time in five years that the team had expired in the playoffs at the hands of the Longhorns, now 34-2 and on a 32-game winning streak after hanging on for dear life after a terrific EHS comeback.

“Why couldn’t Aaron’s shot have gone in…why couldn’t Blue Eyes’ 3 have found the mark.”

The undeniable truth is, the Bobcats would not have been anywhere close had it not been for the exemplary play of these two stars, who combined for 53 of the team’s 68 points in the 6-point loss. Guerrero had nailed a key jumper with 26 seconds to go, and he put in 10 of his game-high 28 points in the fourth. Olvera finished with 25, had a monster three late in the game as the comeback took shape, and made a pair of super defensive plays inside the final two minutes.

But it wasn’t enough to keep the drive alive, and afterward, EHS Coach Zeke Cuellar was at turns downcast and at others philosophical about the loss.

“We expended a lot of energy making that comeback after we’d put ourselves in a big hole,” said the coach, who noted that for the second year in a row, his team had tripped up in the third round of the playoffs. History records that they had been defeated by United in 2005-06 and again the next season, when Cuellar was an assistant to the legendary Joe Filoteo. “I think it will be a wakeup call for our kids, because when it all comes down it, basketball is about the fundamentals.

“We preach all the time that the guys have to make their layups,” he added. “Now, I am not saying that the missed layup cost us the game, not at all. But it was a layup, and we just have to make those kind of shots. Especially against a team like United. But you know, I think our kids showed their character tonight, they never gave up, and they kept on working. Once we made some adjustments after the half, it was going better for us. We just ran out of time. Give us just two more minutes and we win the game. Give us those last two shots again, I wish we could have them back. They were good shots by great kids.”

AN UNBELIEVEABLE SHOOTING CLINIC

Just two more minutes. That’s what the majority of the fans in attendance had been saying to themselves on the drive out to Roma, United from the west and Edinburg from the east. It’s one of those trips that never seems to end, from the dangerous one-lane crap shoot from Laredo to the stop-and-start nerve-twister from the Valley proper, through every God-forsaken burg and past every dusty, ramshackle not-even colonia.

It may have taken a lifetime to get there, but once United reached its destination, it was on fire. And how.

They last lost in late November, and the Longhorns came to Roma with the reputation of a well balanced team that can hurt you inside and out. In the early going Monday, it was the latter, with a bullet.

Manny Canales averages 11 points per game this season, but against the Bobcats he quickly punched in 12 points in the first period, with a pair of long-range bombs. At one point it was 17-9 Longhorns, first Danger Zone for the Valley unit. But Big Joe Fuentes, who came off the bench to provide some vital minutes in the third-round match, scored on a stickback and Guerrero and Olvera got hoops to stave off the early problem.

United, with a pair of 6-foot-4 kids in the mix and three strong, quick senior guards, erupted from behind the arc in the second after leading 19-15 after one.

Whipping the ball around with alacrity, the ‘Horns were a step quicker than EHS, and their passing led to six bombs and a 14-point advantage at the half. The Laredo kids have “TAS” emblazoned on the back of their warmup shirts, signifying “Team Ahead of Self,” and they played like they dress in the half.

Two points stand out in the quarter. One was Daniel Rosas’ four-point play, on a wild three that hit glass (no call) and built a 29-21 lead when a foul was called on Edinburg defender Phillip De la Rosa.

The other occurred at the end of the period, when senior Michael Elizondo tripled the triple, making a trifecta of rainbows, twice off kickout feeds from the post. The madcap United fans got so used to this marksmanship routine that they were raising their hands like referees every time a Longhorn kid got his hands on the rock out front.

For the season, United has been a fine shooting bunch, 67 percent from the free-throw line and a resounding 36 percent on threes, with 225 makes. Surely they could not keep up this red-hot pace the whole game.

But with Olvera struggling to find space and the Bobcats rushing their tries in the face of a mounting deficit (it’d reached 17 at 38-21 on Elizondo’s second rip), it looked like that would not matter. Reeling badly and down 41-27, Edinburg seemed like dust in the wind.

The symbol of the first half came on the final play, after a pressing Olvera had turned it over on successive possessions. Canales finally missed a shot from downtown, after a vicious pick on high had decked Bobcat Cord Arriola on the play. Physically, accurately, mentally, any “ally” really, the Longhorns were totally on message.

TIME TO REGROUP

Cuellar’s team knocked off San Benito and Laredo Martin in the past week to get here, and had lost by 10 to a tall, strong San Antonio Southwest group at this stage last season. At the break out in Roma, he and his staff were forced into some clipboard soul-searching.

“We spoke about contesting their long shots better in the second half,” he noted. “I think we over-emphasized defending them down low, and they were able to get some rebounds, run the floor, and spot up from three.”

And as good as the gunners from Laredo had been in the first 16 minutes, the post play that Coach Archie Ramos got from juniors Fred Juarez and Luis Vila was just as effective. Juarez in particular had been an unsung hero in the domination, grabbing six rebounds and passing like a brown Bill Walton on both the outlet feed and interior inside-out maneuver. Playing in front of his aunt, EHS girls’ coach Rachel Carmona (who had a tough call on where to sit, you understand), the rangy Juarez had all the extra incentive he would need, aside from a trip to the Sweet 16.

“We just went 1-on-1 down low after that,” Cuellar continued. “We had to get to their shooters and take our chances inside, and it worked well. Plus, we started taking the ball to the basket more after halftime, we spoke about attacking the basket more instead of standing around settling for long jump shots.”

The strategy seemed solid enough, but United simply switched from the air to the ground, as Vila fought inside to three straight goals in the third. Though Arriola, in his best night’s work in many moons, had begun to lead a counter-charge, the Bobcats could not get the margin under 10 no matter how hard they tried. At one point, Elizondo corralled a rebound while on the seat of his pants, dishing to Vila for a hoop. That was the kind of mojo the ‘Cats were up against.

Still, with Guerrero heating up for eight and Olvera adding six, Edinburg chipped away, and Arriola, besides making three steals and three assists, tossed in eight in the period. All that work to the good, and it was still 61-51 at the buzzer, EHS having outscored its foe 24-20 in a breakneck-paced stanza but still with a monumental mountain to scale.

That’s when Fuentes, sometimes seldom-seen in this his senior season, began to make a difference. With Marquis Holiday ineffective down low and now on the bench, the 6-foot-3 senior came to the party with bad intentions, as Mike Tyson would lisp.

He has been a quick-rushing defensive end for two seasons of Bobcat football, a member of that fine Edinburg defense that last fall keyed the program’s first taste of playoff pigskin since 2005. Springy and a big-time hustler, Fuentes began to chase down loose balls, clog the passing lanes, and generally harass the Longhorn offense like he once made life miserable for pass-blocking tackles on the gridiron.

Before the game, he, Guerrero and Olvera took turns in pre-game dunking exploits as Edinburg looked to intimidate the ‘Horns with a little rim-shaking. But Monday, the muscular and handsome Fuentes was more than just a candidate for the All-Pre-Game team; he produced!

Elizondo missed, Fuentes soared for the board. Guerrero went to the line to make two and it was 61-55 with 5:16 left. Heeeey! All of a sudden, here was Edinburg, having with all-out defense and money shooting battled from way behind. United, which probably could not remember what it feels like to struggle, much less lose, was tight.

“I told the kids that if we could get it under 10 with some time left, we could win it,” said Cuellar, who kept stressing to the Bobcats that United was going to shrink up a bit if challenged well enough.

Olvera agreed, later stating that at no time during the game, not even when the ‘Horns were bombarding the net with three after three, did the ‘Cats think they were done for 2010.

“We never thought that it was over, I am serious,” said the fabulous talent who shot sporadically from the field in the game but came up with some huge makes when it counted. “I really thought we would pull it off at the end…I really did.”

ROARING FROM BEHIND

While this may have seemed like a preposterous pipe dream at one point, as the fourth quarter unfolded, EHS came on like wildfire, led by the frenetic Fuentes and Arriola. The ‘Cats needed something from anyone not named Olvera or Guerrero, and those two kids were the tonic.

Just when it looked like Comeback City, however, Juarez negotiated a kick-ass drop step and spin move from way out front, losing his man for a smooth layup to kick the margin back to eight. After that man Fuentes stole an inbounds pass, Arriola answered at the other end by rebounding his own miss in a crowd and finding Olvera in the sky for a two. The ‘Cats climbed to within four at 63-59 on Guerrero’s stickback, but Elizondo knocked down two freebies, a harbinger of things to come for that cool senior.

Then came the sort of play that signals to the world that even though he may shoot quite a lot, and even though he still has things to learn at the point, Olvera is a bona fide college player in the making. He sliced to the goal in transition and rose above the other nine earthbound saps, finishing from the rafters with an exquisite finger roll. For a second, everyone in the house, including former Bobcat star Rallie De la Rosa (he once had 30 points in a playoff game against Brownsville Porter and is the older brother of current EHS junior Phillip), imagined that Olvera might be on his way to a breathtaking slam dunk. They all settled for the George Gervin facsimile, and it was back to four.

Soon, however, the pesky deficit was seven again, with just two minutes left. Elizondo would sink eight of 10 free throws in the quarter, and even though United had scored just one field goal in six minutes, it was ready to put this one away and start preparing for a rubber match with San Antonio Wagner, up at UTSA.

But the ‘Horns did not check Fuentes, and he again stormed in for a steal which led to Guerrero’s dos in the lane with 1:21 to go, making it 68-63. Still a chance, however faint, but even the novice knows that 81 seconds is enough time to get the job done. The Bobcats just had to get some more stops. United was flagging.

It got to 68-66, after Olvera had sped down and drained a difficult three, not surprising considering the fact that he came into the night having made over 80 such shots this year. The bomb dropped and then moments later, with a chance to tie, Olvera electrified the world with the amazing move that ended in the shot that didn’t fall.

“I couldn’t believe it, actually, I thought for sure it was going to fall,” he said afterward. “I just knew I was going to make that shot…but we still had a chance after that. We knew that even though United is a really good team, we were just as good.”

With 40 seconds to go, the ‘Cats fouled Elizondo, who made two charity flips. 70-66. Margin down to two again after Guerrero lofted that 12-footer to the good, with Elizondo then canning one of two from the line.

CAN YOU STAND IT? IT’S NUTS!

Here it was, all crazy. Edinburg down three with the ball. The whole Longhorn crew ran at Olvera out of the inbounds and he spotted Guerrero elbow right. Blue Eyes let if fly, with the tie in the offing, nine seconds to go, but could not convert. The rest was fouls and free throws, with United finding the net thrice to clinch the caper.

Before the night had begun, EHS trainer Roger Rollins, normally a soft-spoken chap known more for his dogged work ethic than his speechifying, had told the players a few choice stories of myth and lore – the theme being the underdog succeeding – to get them ready for the scrap with the state’s No. 4 club. Though the lessons in David and Goliath took a half to register, it was clear after the break that the Bobcats were now ready to play ball, 14-point deficit or not.

They were ready to join McAllen High (a victor over Brownsville Hanna in the fourth match this season between those two luminaries) in the Sweet 16, though they didn’t know that third-round result or particularly care in the midst of a desperate fight for survival.

Yes, they were coming, and cominatcha. They just ran out of time. Like Cuellar says, give them two more minutes. One more shot at the two shots they had to tie the game in the late stages.

But alas, like McCovey and the Giants, like Linus and Charlie Brown, the long-suffering characters of yesteryear, the shots did not fall. The Bobcats constructed a textbook comeback, and yet will play no more this campaign. All the principals return for what promises to be a tremendous senior season in 2010-11. But this one is done.

The brooding begins.

Tags: boys basketball, edinburg, laredo united, playoffs, texas