An Amazing girls basketball story
With high school graduation almost upon us, The Advance can’t let the year expire without writing a well-deserved shoutout to the Harvest Christian Academy girls basketball team, the Lady Eagles, who won backto- back state championships with a commanding win, 78-27, over Texoma Christian at Robinson High School the last week of February.
Harvest is part of the Texas Association for Private and Parochial (TAPPS) Division 1 league, but you wouldn’t know it by the scores the team racked up this year on the way to the state championship, rolling over bigger schools, both private and public, in 4A, 5A and 6A divisions.
The Lady Eagles finished the 2023/2024 season with a 42-1 overall record, with their only loss coming last December against Class 6A RGV powerhouse Edinburg High, 66-60; leading even that game as they began the fourth quarter.
If you count up the team’s win-loss record over the past two seasons, the record stands at … wait for it … 77-8.
People hear of a relatively small private and/or parochial school, and they think lightweights. One small school playing another small school in a relatively small division, that sort of thing, but that’s not the case at all with the Harvest Christian Academy story.
If you look at the teams Harvest faced this season and last, the results are simply amazing in terms of both points scored and the low buckets dropped by the opposing teams — 72.9 points per game vs only 30.9.
The opposing teams defeated this season and last included almost all the Valley’s big schools — Brownsville Lopez, Mission High, Edinburg North, Brownsville Pace, San Benito, Port Isabel, PSJA North, Los Fresnos, Harlingen High, McHi — and the only close score was the Edinburg High defeat. The other victories usually carried point spreads like 85-13, 71-37, 69-24.
Ten girls comprise the team, and most of them have been together since the 4th grade, finding a way to play, basically, yearround, hitting the hardwood in other states like Oklahoma where off-season tournaments are held, not tied to the UIL.
The senior class has been together for four years, but only two starters will return next season — Riley McClaugherty and Jamie Gonzalez.
Still, it wouldn’t be a surprise if the team pulled a Chicago Bulls’ three-peat (actually, the Bulls did it twice) given the team’s prowess on the court these past two seasons. After all, the Lady Eagles who didn’t start this season or last, played against the best (the starters) during practice, and no doubt, learned a lot along the way as they won back-to-back state championships.
So again, congrats to the Harvest Christian High School Academy Lady Eagles Basketball Team, who proved that you don’t have to be big to be great. Two years running.
Coaches include head coach, Pastor Jaime Gonzalez, and assistant coaches Larry Quintero and Juan Landa.
Team players include: Karmela Futo, Alexis Garcia, Mia Garza, sisters Ashley and Jamie Gonzalez, Kezia Leal, Riley McClaugherty, Genesis Moreno, Samantha Muñoz, and Abby Torres.
County and City Resolutions
In recognition of Harvest Christian Academy’s accomplishments this year and last, both the City of Edinburg and Hidalgo County issued proclamations this past March in recognition of the Lady Eagles’ back-to-back state titles in the TAPPS 1A playoffs.
One state championship is hard to win. Two, well, no one can argue, that’s pretty special.