Edinburg Vela SaberCats' season ends in Elite 8

SAN ANTONIO — The Edinburg Vela SaberCats went toe-to-toe against a pair of state-ranked powers at the Region IV-5A tournament in San Antonio this weekend and proved they belong.

The No. 24-ranked SaberCats (36-6) first took care of business 57-46 against the No. 21 San Antonio Wagner Thunderbirds (24-12) on Friday night at Littleton Gym in the Region IV-5A semifinals, riding a strong fourth quarter to victory and clinching a spot in Saturday’s Elite 8.

Senior forward Axel Garza took over in the fourth quarter against Wagner with 10 of his team-high 21 points coming in the final eight minutes with the game on the line. He was money around the rim, from beyond the arc and at the free throw line, converting a momentum-shifting and-1 opportunity and drilling a 3-pointer from the right wing with a defender in his face.

The SaberCats trailed 40-39 entering the final quarter and proceeded to outscore the Thunderbirds 18-6 to earn the win Friday.

Vela held Wagner 6-foot-8 forward TreVaun Clark, a four-star prospect with offers from Texas, Oklahoma and UTSA, to just four points. 

“All summer long, we came up to tournaments around San Antonio, Austin, around these areas playing against guys a little bigger,” Garza said. “We didn’t win every tournament, but it was for the experience and it’s showing right now. We weren’t scared. We came out and we battled.”

Senior guard EJ Avelar finished with 13 points against Wagner and sophomore guard Jordan Bustamante scored 12. Senior point guard JP Olivarez had seven points and five assists.

Friday’s night’s Sweet 16 win set up an Elite 8 date against No. 2 San Antonio Veterans (40-1) at 2 p.m. Saturday back at Littleton Gym in San Antonio.

The SaberCats won three of the four quarters against the one-loss Patriots but couldn’t overcome a second-quarter surge from SA Veterans, falling 66-53 on Saturday and bringing their season to an end.

Avelar scored seven points to get Vela going early with an 11-8 lead after one.

San Antonio Veterans then outscored Vela 27-6 during the second quarter, taking advantage of SaberCats’ misses and turnovers, which turned into points for the Patriots.

Trailing 35-17 at the half, the SaberCats kept swinging as Garza responded with a 10-point third and cut the lead to 10 midway through the quarter.

“At the end of the day, I think we could all say we did our best and left it on the court. I’m proud of these guys,” Garza said. “We fought and we fought. Obviously we lost today, but I would call this season a success.”

In the fourth, Olivarez knocked down three triples, dropped in a tough runner, and Avelar hit a layup to pull within eight at 56-48 with 2:55 remaining, but that’s as close as the SaberCats would get.

“I think we competed well with these guys. We didn’t let anything stop us from competing and kept going until the end,” senior post Aiden Lopez said.

Garza finished with 19 points against SA Veterans, Avelar had 12 points and Olivarez added 11 points. Bustamante scored nine points, hitting some tough shots off the bench.

Edinburg Vela’s regional final appearance this season marks the third time the SaberCats have reached the fifth round of the playoffs (2014-15, 2015-16) in program history. This year’s group also set a program record for most single-season wins with 36.

“It was amazing to put up 36 wins. We’ve set high expectations for this program and this season was nothing but a success,” senior guard Diego Salinas said.

Vela will graduate a strong senior group in Avelar, Garza, Lopez, Salinas and senior guard Sam Sepulveda, who finished the fourth quarter together on the floor as the final buzzer sounded.

“We’ve had these goals since a young age and we just accomplished them. We put our hearts in it and told each other that this is what we want from each other,” Sepulveda said.

“They’re an incredible group. They set the standard for what we want,” Vela head coach Lucio Rodriguez said. “I think we got the most wins in program history this year — 36 wins — so they’ll always be able to hang their hat on that and be remembered as a SaberCat forever.”