By STEFAN MODRICH | Staff Writer
HARLINGEN — Darrin Everage led all scorers with 13 points as McAllen Rowe edged Harlingen South 55-47 in a non-district contest Tuesday night.
South’s Ryan Fechner led the Hawks (0-1) with 12 points. Rudy Rodriguez had nine points and Alex Rodriguez had seven for Harlingen South.
McAllen Rowe coach Jose Luis Yebra said he was pleased with the Warriors’ effort in their first regular season non-district game.
“Harlingen South is a good team,” Yebra said. “They play well together and they did a great job defensively and they made some great shots as well to stay in the game. But our kids kept their composure and continued to fight.”
Everage drew the attention of the Hawks’ defense frequently, forcing help defenders to stray from their man and allowing Louie Yebra (11 points) and Jacob Conrow (10 points) to generate their own scoring opportunities.
McAllen Rowe got to the line often and led 15-12 after the first quarter.
“Darrin is a leader, and tonight, he showed it there at the free throw line,” Yebra said. “He did a great job tonight.
“We made our free throws at the end,” Yebra said. “I thought we did a great job defensively ourselves. I was pleased with the results and with the way our kids performed.”
The visitors took a 29-22 lead into the locker room at halftime. Both teams ran the floor well and created turnovers that led to easy baskets. South outscored Rowe 11-8 in the third quarter to narrow the lead to 37-33, but ultimately the size and physicality of Everage and Co. proved to be too steep a hurdle for South to overcome.
“We like to play fast, we like to run the court,” Yebra said. “I thought (the pace) was in our favor, but (Harlingen South) has some good athletes themselves. It was a good game up and down the floor, good defense — a good, clean game.”
Fechner made four threes to keep Harlingen South within striking distance, including one that brought the home team within one point, as the Hawks trailed 47-46 with less than two and a half minutes to play.
“(Fechner) did a really good job of knocking down some deep shots,” Yebra said. “I was on my son (Louie Yebra) about him not being in his face. He was really shooting out of the range, but he made them.”