KEVIN NARRO | Staff Writer
HARLINGEN — Fresh off their tournament win this past weekend, the Harlingen High Lady Cardinals were back in Harlingen for their home opener against Laredo Alexander.
Bianca Rodriguez’s five-point swing during the third quarter helped fuel a strong third period. Rodriguez finished with a team-high 16 points and teammate Taegan Dickey dropped 15 points en route to a 68-58 win Tuesday night.
“It’s great to be back home and playing on your home court, especially after a win. We still have some things we need to clean up. We had a long week last week, and it took us a little bit of time to get things going tonight,” Lady Cards coach Ashley Moncivaiz said.
Harlingen High ran through McAllen Memorial and Weslaco High this past weekend, and then took on the Lady Bulldogs, who reached the elite eight last season.
“We wanted to have a strong preseason schedule. We want teams to make us work, and we want to see what we will see in the playoffs. For us, we know we will have to be prepared for district by playing the top teams in the (Rio Grande) Valley and from Laredo, and this helps us with that.” Moncivaiz said.
The Lady Cards now shift their focus to the Border Bash later this week at Valley View. The challenge for Harlingen High is that it will have played 12 to 15 games in a span of two weeks, with tournaments and non-district games on the slate.
“It was a matter of regrouping after last week’s tournament,” Moncivaiz said. “We played a physical tournament against physical teams, so when you come back your body goes through some wear and tear, but we were able to pull out the win tonight.”
Against Alexander, Rodriguez chipped in a 10-point first half to gave Harlingen High a 32-26 lead. The offense shook off whatever rust it had during the first half and outscored Alexander 21-11 in the third period.
Rodriguez, who is a senior, has stepped into a larger role this season and has impressed through the first few weeks of the season.
“(Bianca) has been a very good player for us and over the last few years she has learned what her role is, and this year as a senior, her competitive spirit has come out and she will give you her 100 percent,” Moncivaiz said. “She will go out there and make something happen, she will go out and defend or dive for the ball, and when she finds the ball in the mid-range she scores.”