San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
Veterans Memorial vaults to new basketball heights with Sahara Jones
5A all-state tournament team. In addition, she was selected as District 26-5A’s MVP.
“I thought that was really amazing because you never know who’s watching you or just who loves your game or who even gets excited by seeing you play,” Jones said. “I don’t know who’s sitting there watching me, so to be recognized by all those people, it was just great for me.”
Senior Vivian Castro, the Patriots point guard, said Jones was creative when making space to score.
“She helped me create and open up to make a better pass to her inside or being able to see her on the court and being able to get those passes to her,” Castro said.
Jones and Castro were two of three seniors who played four years with Veterans Memorial. Brenna Perez joined them as the Patriots’ only four-year varsity letter winners. Veterans Memorial competed as a junior varsity program when the school opened four years ago.
The Patriots went 27-3, including 11-2 against varsity competition, in that first season.
The Patriots were originally supposed to play junior varsity for two seasons. However, because of their success against varsity competition, Veterans Memorial petitioned UIL to play varsity a season early for basketball.
During their second year, the Patriots competed as a Class 4A program and advanced to the state championship, where they lost to Argyle, 60-41.
Veterans Memorial moved up to Class 5A the following year and fell one step short of the state tournament, losing to Kerrville Tivy in the Region IV-5A championship.
Jones and her teammates were determined to get back to the state tournament as seniors.
The Patriots advanced to their second state tournament by defeating Tivy in the Region IV-5A championship, avenging last year’s loss to the Antlers in the same round.
Jones tallied 18 points and 10 rebounds in the Patriots’ 45-44 victory over Mansfield Timberview in the state semifinals held March 5 at the Alamodome. The Patriots dropped a tough 35-26 decision against Frisco Liberty for the Class 5A state title on March 7.
“Sahara has grown and matured so much,” Veterans Memorial Coach Christina Camacho said before the season. “She wants to put this team on her back, but she knows she can’t do it on her own. She needs her teammates.”
ESPN lists Jones as the nation’s No. 75 recruit in the 2020 class. She received about 15 NCAA Division I offers and narrowed her finalists to include Florida, Syracuse and Auburn.
“I feel grateful because a lot of kids don’t get a chance to go to college for free, especially on a scholarship,” Jones said. “This is what I’ve been wanting my whole life. This is what I worked toward since I was 4 and 5 years old. And now that’s here, it’s so real and so true.”