Bridgette Tello, Laredo United South beat Laredo LBJ for share of District 30-6A title

LAREDO, Texas — Laredo United South secured a postseason berth last week, but the Lady Panthers were looking to head into the playoffs on a positive note and accomplish another, more elusive goal to end the regular season. 

In their final game of the regular season on Tuesday night, Laredo United South blitzed district rival Laredo LBJ with an overwhelming fast break attack offensively and beat the Lady Wolves 68-42 to secure a share of the District 30-6A title.

“We are going to enjoy it today, it has been a long season, for losing some team in our district, it still felt long, ” Laredo United South head coach Leopoldo Guardiola said.

“Our district is getting tougher, the coaches are stepping up, the players are stepping up. You really have to show up in our district to play and pull off wins. We are going to enjoy this, rest up and get ready for the playoffs.”

The Lady Panthers (27-9, 9-1) share the District 30-6A title with Laredo United, which was the only team to hand Laredo United South a loss to open the second round of district play. Laredo United soundly beat northside rival Laredo Alexander 101-45 to conclude its regular season.

Laredo United South was dominating from the opening tip, as the Lady Panthers' starting five had the offense going seconds into the game. 

Senior forward Bridgette Tello, who has been making a strong case for District 30-6A's Most Valuable Player award all season, had another stellar game. Tello opened with a 3-pointer and it was followed by a layup by Rebecca Hernandez to take a 5-0 lead at the 6:34 mark of the opening quarter. 

Laredo LBJ did an effective job defensively during the first 2 minutes of the game, forcing Laredo United South into hurrying its offense.

After Laredo LBJ senior Leilani Medina scored the Lady Wolves' opening basket, Laredo United South went on an 8-1 run to quickly take a 13-6 lead. 

The Lady Panthers and Lady Wolves traded triples with 1:34 left in the opening quarter, as Laredo United South moved ahead 16-6 and continued to dominate in its transition offense to take a 20-7 edge.

The 1-minute intermission did very little to slow down Laredo United South, which continued to catch Laredo LBJ off guard for easy fast break points in transition.

The Lady Panthers opened up the second quarter by quickly building a commanding 28-8 edge, as Guardiola utilized the opportunity to empty the bench and give United South's reserve players plenty of court time for the rest of the game.

Laredo United South took a 38-15 halftime lead, as junior point guard Regina Hernandez came off the bench and kept the Lady Panthers rolling during the second quarter.

Tello had a team-high 18 points, while sophomore forward Briana Flores scored 12 points despite only playing a limited time on the floor.

Laredo LBJ was in a deepening hole, as Laredo United South dominated the second half early on. But the Lady Wolves stayed scrappy and never stopped playing hard, piecing together a handful runs to close the gap on Laredo United South.

Medina, who finished with a team-high 19 points in the final game of her senior season for LBJ, connected on a couple of triples for the Lady Wolves.

Senior center Hania Adame finished with 12 points for Laredo LBJ, with 10 points coming during the second half.

The Laredo United South reserve players contributed immensely on offense, as the Lady Panthers collectively didn't skip a beat to pick up the victory.

Laredo LBJ (18-18, 3-7) concludes its 2022-23 campaign following the loss to United South in its regular-season finale.

The Lady Wolves finished district play tied with the Del Rio Rams (6-20, 3-7) for fourth place in the final District 30-6A standings, with Del Rio securing the district's final No. 4 playoff seed via a tiebreaker.

Laredo United South (27-9, 9-1), meanwhile, secured both a share of the District 30-6A title as well as the district's No. 1 playoff seed heading into the postseason.

The Lady Panthers will return to action to face the San Antonio Warren Warriors (20-12, 10-6) — the No. 4 seed representing District 29-6A — in the bi-district round of the UIL's Class 6A Texas high school girls basketball playoffs at a to-be-determined time, date and location early next week.

Check out SBLive's exclusive photo gallery from the game:

PHOTO GALLERY — LAREDO UNITED SOUTH 68, LAREDO LBJ 42

All photos by Clara Sandoval