By ANDREW CRUM | THE BROWNSVILLE HERALD
Hanna and Harlingen South battled in a crucial game to keep pace in District 32-6A postseason race.
The Lady Golden Eagles used a pair of runs during the third and fourth quarters to pull away from the Lady Hawks and earn a 51-42 win in a District 32-6A girls basketball game Tuesday at Hanna.
“We changed defensively,” Hanna coach Luis Gonzalez said. “We were running a 1-2-2 and they were getting us on the block, so in the second half we ran more of a traditional 2-3 zone and our girls were more aggressive and getting in the passing lanes. That allowed us to convert easy opportunities on offense … that really helped us.”
Mia Paz led Hanna with 22 points, including 13 in the first half, and she added three rebounds and three steals as the Lady Eagles kept pace in the postseason race for the fourth and final spot. The win moves Hanna (4-6 in District 32-6A) into a tie with Harlingen South (4-6) with four games to play. Both teams are behind Los Fresnos, who was a game ahead prior to Tuesday night’s games, for fourth in the district standings.
Hanna led 27-25 at the break, but took the lead for good in the third quarter. Harlingen South took the 29-27 lead on a bucket by Jamie Ambriz, but Paz hit a three-point shot to regain the edge. After a Lady Hawks bucket retook the lead, Paz started an 8-0 run with a pair of free throws. Jackie De La Rosa hit a 3 and added a free throw and Ariana Arceneaux hit a pair from the charity stripe as the Lady Eagles opened up a 38-31 advantage. Paz finished with seven points in the quarter as Hanna had a seven-point lead heading into the fourth.
“We had some key turnovers, two or three right in a row that really hurt us,” Harlingen South coach Kelly Garrett said. “Defensively, we didn’t do a very good job stopping their offense. We had some breakdowns and they scored some easy baskets on us and they shouldn’t have.
“It helped us to get the ball into Carmen (De Angel), but we didn’t do a very good job after halftime.”
Harlingen South’s Carmen De Angel had a three-point play to get her team within 40-36, but the Lady Eagles began a 6-0 run on a layup by Ryann Wood. Paz added a jumper and Odalys Gonzalez hit a layup to push the lead back to 10. The Lady Hawks got within nine points on a free throw, but didn’t get any closer.
The defensive effort on De Angel was key for Hanna. De Angel finished with 16 points, but only five were after halftime.
“It was big and there’s always one girl that every team has that you need to stop, for Harlingen South it was De Angel,” Luis Gonzalez said. “It was a group effort, everybody chipped in on defense. Offensively, everyone got involved. We weren’t relying on just Mia, that helped take the load off.”
Hanna started quickly in the opening quarter to grab the lead. Paz hit a 3 to give the Lady Eagles a 5-2 lead, but Harlingen South’s Briana Lozano got her team within three points after a layup. Hanna went on an 8-0 run, highlighted by a couple buckets by Paz to build a 15-4 advantage. De Angel hit a pair of free throws to end the drought, but De La Rosa answered with a 3 to extend the lead to 10. Paz netted nine points and the Lady Eagles led by eight after one.
The Lady Hawks got back into it in the second quarter. After Hanna opened the quarter with a bucket by Odalys Gonzalez, a 3 by Wood and a 13-point lead, Harlingen South went on an 11-0 run to cut it to two. Dolores Mendoza started with a putback and De Angel got a bucket and later a pair of free throws to cut the deficit to 23-21. Paz hit a bucket to stop the drought, but a couple free throws by De Angel kept the Lady Hawks in the game.
De La Rosa had nine points, six rebounds and a few assists, Odalys Gonzalez finished with eight points and a pair of blocks and Wood and Arceneaux combined for 10 points and 14 rebounds for Hanna.
De Angel finished with seven rebounds and Ambriz added seven points, four rebounds and a pair of steals for Harlingen South.
It was a tough loss for Harlingen South, who closed the gap to two points by the break, only to be outscored 24-16 in the second half.
“Little things add up,” Garrett said of what led to her team’s loss. “Boxing out … someone misses their girl and we paid for it. We have to go harder and put the ball in. We got them in some foul trouble, put we couldn’t put our free throws in.”
For the Lady Eagles, it doesn’t get any easier with a date with Los Fresnos on the road in another crucial game coming up Friday night.
“It’s always big to get a district win, but we look at game-by-game,” Gonzalez said. “If we want to get in the playoffs, we have to beat them on Friday night. All we want is a chance and we have a chance against Los Fresnos to try to get that fourth spot and that’s all I can ask for.”
Andrew Crum covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him at (956) 982-6629 or via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @andrewmcrum.