By MARK MOLINA
Staff Writer
HARLINGEN — Cross-town rivalries are as intense as it can get when it comes to high school sports.
That sentiment will be intensified even more when the Harlingen Cardinals host the Harlingen South Hawks on the hardwood Friday night.
This year, both are not only rivals, but are fighting for position in a very deep District 32-6A in which South (3-1) and Harlingen (2-2) are sitting in second and third place respectively.
Below Harlingen are Los Fresnos Brownsville Veterans and San Benito are all 2-2 as well, making the rivalry game outcome vital.
Hanna is in first place with a 4-0 district record.
“It’s really hard to say you’re going to attack the game like any other district game. The Hawks bring the best out of the Cardinals and the Cardinals bring the best out of us,” Molina said during Wednesday afternoon’s practice. “In the eight, going on nine, years I’ve been with South, every game we have played with Harlingen has been a good one — we’re expecting another one Friday night.”
The first district meeting between the two schools will be the second of the season.
The first meeting was back on Nov. 29 in the finals of the 2014 Dr. Keillor Classic in which the Cardinals won 66-62 in overtime.
With almost two months gone by, Harlingen expects the teams to look different in terms of style of play, but is still expecting a tight matchup.
“Both of us have evolved since Thanksgiving There have a lot of things put in and out with some tweaking going on,” Harlingen head coach Greg Yates said Wednesday. “Our district is competitive and a lot of the games that have been won are narrow margins. With us and South, our kids know each other on a first-name basis and I have a high respect for Brian and what he has done with his program. It’s always fun to play your rival and it just intensifies when it’s a district contest.”
WORKING FOR WINS
Harlingen South stands at 3-1 within the District after four games, but arriving at that record has been nothing short of nerve wracking.
They opened district with an overtime win over Los Fresnos (2-0) and then followed with a 53-51 win over Rivera (1-3) in which they had to score five points in 12 seconds to win.
And in their latest win, the Hawks loss an 11-point lead and needed a game-clinching layup from Gabe Britten with 2.7 seconds to go to win a 54-50 game over San Benito (2-2).
“These close games help us grow up experience-wise. Games like that will get you ready fro the playoffs,” Molina said. “I think that any team that is able to come out of this district will be battle-tested. That says a lot about the competition in 32-6A.”
YOUNG CARDS NO MORE
The Cardinals came in with just two players with varsity experience from last year’s group which went to the second round of the playoffs.
Only Juan Cerrillo and Ernie Ramirez remain and they are now junior leaders on the court for Harlingen.
Still, they are two of four starting underclassmen along with the group that comes off the bench.
Despite a young look to his squad, Yates isn’t making any excuses with district well underway.
“A lot of times the inexperience shows with the speed of the game, but you can’t say anything about being young; we’ve played over 20 games,” Yates said. “That rookie season is done and it’s all about competing and getting after it. “