LORI VERMAAS | Special to the Star
On Friday afternoon, the Harlingen South Hawks found themselves relying on what so far this season has been a bit of a weakness — their defense. And Coach Brian Molina couldn’t be happier with the result.
Supplemented by its top scorers in Grant Lowery and Joe Cortez, who dropped 11 points each, Harlingen South held off Mission Veterans Memorial 38-33.
“We’ve been struggling defensively,” Molina said. “But the kids locked down, especially after the first quarter. We limited them to one shot. We finished possessions on defense.”
After falling behind 11-5 during the first quarter, the Patriots, led by standout Noe Cantu, pulled within two with nearly 2 minutes before halftime.
But they were unable to get any closer. A minute and a half and a couple of baskets later, sparked by a crucial Alex Rodriguez 3, the Hawks lengthened their lead right before halftime at 24-17.
Despite ending the game with 17 points, which led all scorers, Cantu never really found his rhythm.
“We doubled him as much as we could to get the ball out of his hands and rotate accordingly,” Molina said, noting that “the kids did a pretty good job of maintaining that.”
After the break, both teams amped up their defensive efforts. Although the Patriots’ defense stymied Lowery, limiting him to 1-of-3 shooting, his scooped layup at 2:53 in the third helped the Hawks lengthen their lead to 8, at 31-23.
By the fourth, the Hawks’ defense stiffened even more. The Patriots didn’t score until halfway through the quarter — two free throws by Cantu — but a timely steal and then layup by Brady Bennett snuffed out the prospect of a comeback.
With the season entering its halfway point and nearing district play, Molina feels good about where his team is.
“Today’s performance shows that even if we aren’t scoring a lot of points, we can defend the right way to get the best result,” he said.