By STEFAN MODRICH, Staff Writer
COMBES — In her seventh season as coach of the Harlingen High Lady Cardinals, Ashley Moncivaiz has done three times what her predecessor hadn’t done since the 2011-12 season — complete three undefeated District 32-6A campaigns, the latest of which was the cherry atop a 31-8 overall mark and a 10-0 record in district.
For her efforts in guiding a young team to her second straight district title and fourth in six seasons, as well as reaching the second round of the postseason, Moncivaiz is the Valley Morning Star’s 2019-2020 All-STAR Coach of the Year.
“Going into the year, you’re hoping you’re going to meet your goals and expectations,” Moncivaiz said. “For us, we’re just in the beginning process of our team and where we’re going to be at.”
She has never lost a first-round playoff game in her career with the Lady Cardinals, and this year’s squad featured just one senior and a platoon of underclassmen who stepped up in starting roles.
A trio of impact freshmen in Rosa Zapata, Juli Bryant and Emery Scoggins as well as sophomores Avery Hinojosa and juniors Callie Cervantes, Alexus Coto and Sydney Portillo made Harlingen High one of the most prolific offenses in the Rio Grande Valley, averaging 56 points per game and allowing just 40 points per contest.
The Lady Cardinals shined against some of their toughest competition of the season, including sweeps of rival Harlingen South and Los Fresnos. Harlingen High also picked up non-district victories over Brownsville Veterans Memorial, Weslaco High and Edinburg Vela.
A 53-point margin of victory in a bi-district playoff game Feb. 17 at Donna North was just the ninth-highest single-game scoring output for Moncivaiz’s squad, and in holding the Lady Chiefs to 15 points, they nearly matched their best defensive performance of the season, surrendering a mere 13 points in a Jan. 28 win over San Benito.
The Lady Cardinals’ coach said the energy and enthusiasm of this year’s team was what distinguished it from her previous rosters.
She and her staff were motivated by the opportunity to push her players to improve on the practice floor and apply those lessons as the schedule progressively became more demanding.
“I think that their love for the game was totally different,” Moncivaiz said. “I think they came in wanting (to win) and being passionate about it. We found ways to keep them competitive to transition (from practice to) game days.”
Moncivaiz said she’s tried to match the passion she expects from her players as part of her own internal drive to improve, modeling her approach after women’s college basketball coaching legends like Pat Summit and Geno Auriemma.
“If they see I’m buying into that same type of mentality, then they’re going to want to have that same hunger and same drive,” she said. “I always tell the girls: ‘I’m not satisfied where we’re at. We need to keep pushing.’ … They know that every day I’m wanting to do more than I need to (do to succeed).”
In order to establish a culture of success, Moncivaiz and her assistants begin preparation in earnest each summer to assess the team and match their style to their incoming personnel and its style of play.
“If we continue that phase of looking (at the team) in the offseason, preparing them on and off the court, I think that’s what’s going to make us successful in the next couple years,” Moncivaiz said. “When we start in August, we’re not trying to put pieces together, we already know what we’re trying to do. By the time the season starts in October, it’s just basically getting those reps and jelling together.”