KEVIN NARRO | Staff Writer
HARLINGEN — The Los Fresnos Falcons entered Friday night as underdogs and played inspired basketball despite coach Marco Hinojosa being out with the flu.
The Falcons delivered their coach a 56-50 road win over Harlingen High on Friday night in the teams’ District 32-6A opener.
“Coming into tonight, this game was for Coach Hinojosa,” Falcons assistant coach Alex Lucio said. “All week long coach reached out to me, and the kids worked hard all week, and they came out and played inspired basketball.”
After a see-saw battle during the first half, the Falcons trailed 32-29. The third quarter is when the Falcons took control, outscoring the Cardinals 19-9 and to hold a 48-41 lead.
Sebastian Szpak led the offense with seven third-quarter points to go with his game-high 21 points.
Harlingen High rallied, using a 7-2 run to tie the game at 48 with 3:21 left on a Michael Arellano layup. The Cards had an opportunity to take the lead with 16 seconds to play but turned over the ball on a five-second violation. Tyler Alvarez put the game on ice with a pair of free throws, making it a two-possession game. Alvarez finished with 12 points.
Ricky Altamirano laid in the bucket that gave the Falcons a 50-48 lead. Leading by four, the Cards again managed to cut the lead to two points.
The win, for now, sets an early tone in the district for a Los Fresnos team that lost multiple starters to graduation.
“We saw the standings, and in some of them we weren’t in them. This was a statement game for us,” Lucio said. “This was our district opener against a very tough Harlingen team. We are young and we are rebuilding, and a win like this is something that can get us going.”
The Falcons now shift their focus to Brownsville Hanna on Tuesday, and Harlingen High will prepare for Harlingen South.
For the Cards, Arellano led the team in scoring with 20 points, and Diego Balzaldua netted nine.
Lady Cardinals 42, Lady Falcons 36
The Harlingen High Lady Cardinals needed every ounce of muscle they had Friday night when Los Fresnos came to town.
Harlingen High relied on its physical defense and timely baskets to get past Los Fresnos.
“Anytime we play Los Fresnos, they play physical and always bring out the best in us,” Harlingen High coach Ashley Moncivaiz said. “We had to answer their physicality, and tonight we were not hitting our shots or free throws. Los Fresnos made their free throws and that allowed them to stay in the game.”
The offense struggling to generate points and the physical defense played by Los Fresnos forced the Lady Cards to slow down their offense.
“Games like tonight, we have to slow down and play at a slower pace,” Moncivaiz said. “We have to adjust and I thought we were able to do that in the second half.”
The win sets up an early battle for first place against Harlingen South on Tuesday. Both squads are 3-0 in district play.
“It is going to be fun,” Moncivaiz said. “Anytime we play Harlingen South it will be physical. We will get back to work (today) and work on some minor things and we will be ready for Tuesday.”
Los Fresnos, meanwhile, falls to 1-2 in district and will play host to Brownsville Hanna on Tuesday.
The Lady Cards shook off a slow start on offense during the first half and found their grove in the third quarter.
Bianca Rodriguez hit a 3-point shot to end the frame, giving Harlingen High a 35-30 lead and most importantly, the momentum they needed heading to the fourth quarter.
Rodriguez and Taegan Dickey led the offense with seven points apiece.
Ari Gallardo netted a game-high 15 points for the Lady Falcons, and Jovanna Adame finished with eight points.