By Brian Argabright
The 830 Times
New Del Rio Queens head coach Marisa Soto was fine until she saw her mother.
The coach, who was hired to helm the team she once played for and helped lead to the playoffs during her years as a student at Del Rio High School, had just guided her squad to a 41-34 win over Uvalde and urged fans to stay off the court instead of celebrating the win alongside the Queens players.
All it took for Soto to control the crowd was a stern face and a plea with her hands for fans to stay off the court. But when she turned back to her bench, she was greeted with flowers and the open arms of her mother, Norma Soto. And in that moment, Soto broke into a smile and cried happy tears as she embraced one of her biggest and most dedicated supporters.
“I was excited and proud,” Soto, who was named the Queens head coach this summer, said when asked how she felt during the game and how it felt to earn the first win of her varsity coaching career. “It was exciting to have our girls showcase all the hard work they have been putting in, proud of how our city of Del Rio showed up in support of our girls and proud of the effort given by every single girl when they stepped on the court.
“Getting that first win felt great, and doing it in the Queen City made it even better!”
Del Rio was coming off something of a lost season last year. The team’s season came to a premature end due to COVID protocols and with no junior varsity or freshmen games last season, also due to COVID protocols, this year’s varsity squad is a mix of a handful of returners and girls who hadn’t played a meaningful game since 2019.
On Tuesday night, none of that mattered as Soto’s team leaned on its defense to overpower the Lobos.
The Queens had 24 steals and forced one 10-second violation, keeping Uvalde off balance and allowing Del Rio to control much of the game. Players like Sydney Ballard, Joselyn Gonzalez and Nelly Robles helped lead the way with their defense, which in turn became scoring opportunities for them and their teammates.
Del Rio led 13-8 after the first quarter, but the lead was cut to 23-22 by halftime as the Queens managed just two baskets from the field in the period.
The lead grew in the third thanks to back-to-back 3-pointers from Makayla Lewis.
That output helped in the fourth as once again the Queens managed just two baskets from the floor, but they were able to hold on for the seven-point win.
Gonzalez led the team with 17 points. Lewis finished with six points. Karolina Alderete and Ballard each had four points, Alexia Muñiz, Marina Jimenez and Sierra Horton each had three points, and Robles added one point.
The Queens are scheduled to travel to San Antonio this weekend to compete in the Harlandale ISD tournament. Del Rio’s next home game will be Tuesday, Nov. 16, against Crystal City at 6:30 p.m.
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Contact the author at drnhsports@gmail.com
Editor’s note: Story has been corrected to reflect the scorers for Del Rio.
