DAVE FAVILA | Staff Writer
HARLINGEN — Paced by a tenacious defense and a balanced offense that got scoring from 10 different players, the Harlingen South Lady Hawks routed the Edinburg Economedes Lady Jaguars 51-26 in a non-district contest on Tuesday night.
The Lady Hawks, who picked up their fourth straight win and improved to 9-6 on the season, outscored the Lady Jags 20-6 in the opening period. They also forced 11 turnovers and held Economedes to just two field goals in the quarter.
“We asked the defense to set the tone tonight and they did it,” said Lady Hawks head coach Kelly Garrett.
South’s Mikaela Flores led all scorers with 11 points, followed by Socorro Salazar, who finished with 10, including one three-pointer. Meanwhile, Leah Noe and Tina Montez both came off the bench to contribute six points apiece while Lauren Contreras added five.
With a 14-point lead heading into the second quarter, the Lady Hawks continued to press on defense and limited the Lady Jags to just five points to take a 36-11 lead at the half.
The Lady Jags committed fewer turnovers in the second period and did get open shots, but nothing was falling for them as they didn’t score a point until the 5:09 mark of the frame when Lizbeth Cabrera finally found the basket.
Meanwhile, the Lady Hawks’ offense really spread the ball around in the second as six different player scored.
Things didn’t get much better for Economedes in the second half as the Lady Jags were held to just nine points in the third and didn’t pick up their first field goal of the quarter until there was just 15 seconds left. Prior to that, all their points came on free throws and one three-point basket by Silva Perez, who led the way for the Lady Jags with 11 points. After three, the Lady Hawks led 49-20.
In the fourth quarter, the Lady Hawks’ offense purposely slowed the tempo down and Economedes actually outscored South 6-2. But it was way too little way too late.
The Lady Hawks seem to be hitting their stirde at the right time as District 32-6A play gets underway a week from Friday.
“This weekend we’ve got a tournament in Laredo and hopefully that will get us ready for league play coming up,” said Garrett.
South opens district on Dec. 11 at Brownsville Veterans.