MARK MOLINA | Staff Writer
HARLINGEN — The Harlingen South Hawks couldn’t pull away from the sharp-shooting Hanna Golden Eagles early on, but defensive adjustments changed that in the second half.
After chasing the Eagles off the perimeter, the Hawks owned the paint on both sides of the ball in the second half on the way to a 63-53 win Tuesday night at Harlingen High School South.
The Hawks (7-3 District 32-6A) outscored the Eagles 20-12 in the fourth quarter after leading by just two going into the final period.
The Hawks came out attacking the paint early and were able to generate consistent offense throughout, but the Golden Eagles’ long ball kept South from leading by more than six points in the first half.
In the second half, Hanna (8-2) only made two shots from beyond the perimeter and struggled to make shots underneath as South bigs Luke Bradford and Jimmy Morton made their presence felt under the basket.
“I told the guys that Hanna shoots the ball well and we’re a little bigger than them,” South head coach Brian Molina said. “I told the guys to force (Hanna) to go to the basket and finish over our bigs. If they finish, more power to them, but it will be a tough layup.”
Getting the win not only keeps South on Hanna’s heels for a district title, but shows how much the young Hawks have come since the start of the season, which is big in a tough District 32-6A
“We just keep better every game. We’re going to be tough to beat and we just beat a tough team,” Molina said. “Any team in our district can win a basketball game, so it’s important to take care of games at home.”
Bradford scored 24 points for the Hawks to lead all scores, while Morton added another nine points and had a strong night on the boards.
While Morton scored just nine points, his rebounding and presence created more opportunities for the Hawks in the second half and execute the game plan.
“Jimmy is getting his legs under him at the right time after being out a year and a half and he bangs underneath,” Molina said. “I told the guys we needed to attack the offensive boards and we did that tonight. That was our big focus coming in to tonight.”
In the first half, the Eagles made six shots from beyond the arc, as they swung the ball around the perimeter and threw the Hawks’ defense off balance.
In the second quarter, the Eagles made just four field goals, but three were from beyond the arc and South went into the locker room up 28-24.
South led the entire second half, but the Eagles hung around until late in the fourth quarter as Bradford and Cristian Pena led the Hawks to a strong finish.
Pena scored seven of his nine points in the fourth quarter and Bradford added five in the period as well.
Hanna’s scoring was led by Alex Herrera who recorded 18 points to lead the Eagles, while Ed Messbarger added 16.
Both had a pair of threes in the game.