FREDDY GONZALEZ | Valley Morning Star
HARLINGEN — Pandemonium erupted at the Harlingen High School gymnasium as chants of “DISTRICT CHAMPS! DISTRICT CHAMPS!” rang out after the San Benito Lady Greyhounds defeated the Lady Cardinals 62-55 in overtime on Tuesday evening.
With the regular-season finale win, the Lady Hounds grabbed the top seed in District 32-6A and a share of the league title – a first since 2011 and for just the second time in program history.
San Benito will now play Edinburg Vela in a Class 6A bi-district round playoff contest sometime next week.
“We missed so many free throws, but our fighting spirit was there and as long as that fighting spirit of the Greyhounds is there we’re going to win games,” said an elated San Benito head coach Abel Moreno. “I was a bit scared, but the girls kept fighting and Miranda (Vallejo) honestly took the game into her own hands just like I thought she would, and just like she has always done.”
After being held to just eight points through the first three quarters, Vallejo broke loose for 13 points in the fourth quarter and in overtime. Vallejo finished the night with a game high 21 points.
“We’ve been working for this since we were little and to finally win a district title is incredible because I have never won a title throughout my high school years so winning it in my senior year is something,” said an ecstatic Vallejo after the game.
“We’ve accomplished a lot this year, but we have also lost a lot in our previous years so we’ve had to overcome a lot this season. I have per-sonally been in the gym day in and day out, but winning it as a team means everything to me.”
Other top scorers for San Benito were Arlene Lucero and Mikayla Garcia, who both scored 14 points a piece.
Free throws were the name of the game toward the dying moments of the contest and none more important than for the Harlingen Cardinals. After being down by as much as 10 points in the final two minutes of the contest, Lady Cardinals’ Ariel Leal was money in the fourth and went 9 of 10 from the stripe. Leal was Harlingen’s only consistent scorer on the night, however, and that left the Lady Cardinals in a bind when the junior fouled out with 13 seconds remaining in the game. Leal finished the game with team high 19 points.
However, the most talked about moment will unfortunately belong to Harlingen’s Julieann Garza. After driving to the basket, the senior was fouled with just one second remaining in regulation. However, Garza missed both opportunities to put the game away for the Lady Cardinals.
With the loss, Harlingen dropped down to the third seed and will now face PSJA North in the bi-district round at 7:30 on Monday night in Pharr.