KEVIN NARRO| Staff Writer
HARLINGEN—Adapt and Overcome.
Those are the two things Harlingen High senior point guard Ariel Leal has learned to do while in a Lady Cardinal uniform.
Leal has spent each year on the varsity and has grown into a leader on and off the court.
On the court Leal has helped direct the Harlingen offense and has played a vital role in their 4-0 district start and 23-5 overall record this season.
Overcome.
The road to Leal’s senior year wasn’t an easy one. During her freshman and sophomore year, Leal suffered a left high ankle sprain. Each year Leal was able to recover and was able to return to the court.
Then came her junior year, where she faced her biggest obstacle.
Against South San Antonio in last year’s area round of the playoffs, Leal went down with a season-ending knee injury to her left knee.
Leal later learned she tore her ACL and meniscus.
“At first it was really tough,” she said. “I would cry sometimes watching my team, because I missed playing. What really hurt was me seeing everyone work out and play summer ball and getting ready for our senior year. But through all that, my teammates, family and friends were all there for me and picked me up.”
Leal was able to recover from the injury and was medically cleared in mid-September. The senior took the recovery head on and managed to work on a variety of ball handling drills in the process.
“I just kept working, once school started I knew I was getting closer to getting cleared,” Leal said. “Then when I got cleared I was able to get back on the court and from there everything went smooth.”
Adapt.
Now with Leal back and healthy, the senior has put together a strong senior campaign as we reach the midway point in the district season and has adapted to her role on the team.
This year, Leal has taken the reigns on offense and is averaging 7.6 points , 4.8 assists, 2.7 steals and 3.1 rebounds per game this season.
“She means a lot to the program,” Harlingen coach Ashley Moncivaiz said. “If I ask her to go out and do something, she will go out there and do it on both ends of the court and she will is never going to let me down.”
With the strong start to the district season and with the this year’s team on pace to win more games than the previous two, Leal feels all the pieces are in play for a district title and playoff run.
“We are all motivated to come out and win,” Leal said. “Last year did not end the way we wanted it to and that is what motivates us. We want to make a deep run in the playoffs and as a senior, we all want to make this year memorable and to just leave everything out on the court.”