1939 Texas.

The two best high school basketball teams in San Antonio are squaring off in the championship.

On one side, the home court eagles from Brackenridge,

an all-white team with fans packing the stands.

On the other side, the Vokes from Lanier High School,

an all-Mexican-American team from the city's west side.

A game that starts out like any other sports tournament, but ends in violence.

From Futuro Media and PRX, it's Latino USA. I'm Maria Innojosa. Today, the story of an all-Mexican

American high school basketball team that shot for the stars,

their journey would impact San Antonio for years to come.

Nearly a century ago, there was a historic basketball game between the Eagles and the Vokes,

and it ruffled some feathers, because even though

this happened almost 100 years ago, it was also a time of tremendous anti-immigrant sentiment.

The 1939 matchup in Texas provided a striking image. Tall, lanky, white kids playing against a team of mostly short, skinny,

Mexican-American players led by their star Tony Gardona, all five-foot-one inches of him.

It's a tie game in sudden death overtime. The next basket is going to win the championship. The Brackenrich

Eagles have the ball, and as they get close to the Lanier loop, Brackenrich got the ball. They

went down and they missed the shot. This is Professor Ignacio Garcia, a former Lanier student,

and the author of When Mexicans Could Play Ball. It's a book about

Lanier's team. Joe Trevino, who was the big center, just went up, gobbled the ball, passed

it out to Billy Saldaño. He sees Tony Cardona, who was the star player running toward the

Brackenridge Basket. He throws the ball in a beautiful pass.

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