A little over a year ago, D'Aundre Canada cemented himself in McHi boys basketball history.

The McAllen star's game-winner in the playoffs against Weslaco East lifted the Bulldogs to the area round.

That moment would only scratch the surface of the history he was about to make in the next 12 months.

"It wasn't a hard decision to get it to your best player," McAllen High head coach Ryan Flores recounted of the win. "If we can we take the last shot, win or lose, we go to overtime or we win and he just came through... That was a true turning point for him, himself as a player and for our team and program."

The legend of 'Cardiac Canada' only grew in the next playoff round.

He took a charge in the final moments of the following round against Nixon, a play that took the potential game-winning basket off the board and led to a McHi win in overtime.

"Every year I realize looking back that I've grown in every single way," Canada said when asked about his ability to make plays in clutch moments. "Taking that into consideration I think coming into this next year I just keep trusting the process. Being able to trust my ability to keep growing and not stick. Settle with where I am. I can keep going and achieve so much more."

This season, Canada and the Bulldogs didn't just make more school history, they did what no valley basketball team at this level has done before: Finish the regular season with a perfect 36-0 record.

That run caught the eyes of almost every basketball fan in the valley.

"We've been winning a lot more games," Canada said. "More people want to come out and watch us and I invite them. All the support is better. I love it when people come out, they're cheering, they're cheering us on. It really just makes us play better."

"All our success, it's not just him. Everybody has their role, and everybody has helped in our success this year, but he's been the catalyst," Coach Flores said. "He's been the main one that's gotten everybody together."

The Bulldogs season didn't end the way they wanted it to, but the undefeated regular season will have this team go down in history at McHi and in the Valley as one of the best boys basketball teams to ever take the floor.

"Everything we do off the court, the way we talk to each other is the same way we talk to each other on the court," Canada said of what makes this team so special. "That's why it makes it so much easier. We trust each other. We've learned to do that throughout all the things we've done in our lives. That's why were able to perform so well together."

CHANNEL 5 SPORTS is highlighting high school senior athletes on our Playmaker of the Week segment every Wednesday on CHANNEL 5 NEWS at 10.

During football season, CHANNEL 5 Sports will choose the playmaker of the week from high school football games across the Rio Grande Valley.