A successful season for both the Bearcat and LadyCats on the court resulted in much recognition from the fellow district coaches. Both teams won their Bi-District matchup in the playoffs, but were met with much tougher matchups in the Area round and unfortunately were not able to advance further.
Ballinger had two players win superlative awards on the year. Rosemary Delgado was the girls 4-3A Most Valuable Player. Rosemary had a tremendous year as the starting point guard for the LadyCats. She was responsible for setting the offense on most every possession and on defense was generally tasked with guarding one of the other teams best players.
Jonathan Delgado was named the boys 4-3A Offensive MVP this season and that is appropriate because Jonathan could score from anywhere at anytime for Ballinger. That is not to take away from Jonathan on defense, but his ability to change the game on offense was so tremendous that he was without a doubt deserving of this award.
First team awardees for Ballinger were plentiful. On the girls side you have the sophomore 1-2 punch of Jenna Battle and Emma Toliver. Coach McSherry will be ecstatic to have these two back for two more years. On the boys side you have junior Kenjrik Manley along with two seniors DJ Cavazos and Adrian Anene. Kenjrik will be back for Coach Anene next season as the starting point guard. DJ had a terrific year doing whatever was asked of him playing in the post and as a point guard as the situation dictated showing just how talented he is and how good of a team player he was. Adrian was a great addition for Ballinger in his senior season with his size and athleticism being a mismatch for almost anyone Ballinger played against.
There were many others named to the second team for Ballinger. Juniors Chelsea Martinez and Jewel Klaras were very effective in the paint for Ballinger all year long. Both very physical players their ability to consistently outrebound other players, despite not being as big as most other teams, allowed Ballinger many second chance opportunities. Freshman Addison Martin was a very strong offensive and defensive player for Ballinger all year long. To imagine she has three more years of varsity basketball in front of her to continue to improve is amazing. It would not be a surprise to see her fill in the point guard spot next year that is being vacated by Rosemary. On the boys side Garrett Dixon and Ryan Elliott were named and both were very effective players. Garrett was a sparkplug player for Ballinger. When an impact play on defense or in the rebounding department had to happen you needn’t look much further than Garrett who consistently made plays when it mattered. If Ballinger didn’t have Jonathan Delgado you could easily make an argument for Ryan Elliott as Ballinger’s offensive MVP. Ryan is as dangerous as they come, a catch and shoot specialist that can make you pay for lazy defense.
Five players were named to the honorable mention list. Cynthia Camarillo and Sarah Booher were named on the girls side. Dylan Hostetter, James Washington and Ian Gressett were named on the boys side.
The Academic All-District Team was considerable as well including Jenna Battle, Emma Toliver, Rosemary Delgado, Addison Martin, Sarah Booher, Emily West and Camilla Gonzalez for the girls team. Adrian Anene, Jonathan Delgado, Garrett Dixon, Ryan Elliott, Ian Gressett and Dylan Hostetter for the boys team.
Congratulations Bearcats and LadyCats for all of your accomplishments this season!
