KEVIN NARRO | Valley Morning Star
LA FERIA — The Harlingen Cardinals steamrolled through their pool play and rallied in the semifinals to reach the championship game against Corpus Christi Miller in the 86th annual C.E Vail Classic.
Junior point guard Michael Arellano threw up a deep three ball and hit it right at the buzzer to end what was a dominating third quarter.
The buzzer beater summed up the Cardinals’ afternoon as Arellano dished a team high 20 points en route to a 60-42 win over Miller and the Vail title Saturday afternoon.
“This tournament has been a lot of fun,” said Arellano “I enjoyed playing with my teammates. We’re a close team and we all put together a great effort throughout the tournament. After beating St. Joe, we knew we had to get ready to play a tough Miller team. I was able to attack the basketball and hit my shots, and I’m blessed to receive the tournament most valuable player.”
After a close first half, Harlingen led 31-22. It was the third quarter that saw the momentum shift in favor of Big Red as the Cardinals’ offense found its stride and outscored Miller 27-11. Arellano led the way with 11 third-quarter points, including a pair of three pointers.
“Michael is the key to our offense,” said Cardinals coach Greg Yates. “He does a good job and gets the ball in the hoop. I did see him expand his game; he made some nice assists today down the stretch and that was big for us,”
The Cards went 6-0 in tournament play beating Mission Veterans, Brownsville Lopez, Brownsville Athlos Academy, Raymondville and Brownsville St. Joseph in the semifinals on Saturday morning.
“We overcame some adversity today and I’m proud of the kids’ effort,” Yates said. “St. Joe did a great job against us. Our kids showed a lot of character. We trailed early on and the kids rallied, and took the lead at the end of the third quarter.
“The challenge was we played a tough game against St. Joe and had a quick turnaround to play Miller in the final game, but the kids stepped up and did a great job.”