By CLAIRE CRUZ, Staff Writer
HARLINGEN — Harlingen High coach Ashley Moncivaiz wanted to challenge her team from the jump this season, and the opening game against Laredo Alexander on Saturday did just that.
Her Lady Cardinals played fast and aggressive, but the Lady Bulldogs made adjustments and kept their composure to fight back in the fourth quarter and earn a 65-62 win in overtime.
“First and foremost, Harlingen came out and gave us a battle, and we knew it was going to be,” Laredo Alexander coach Ivan Medellin said. “We just told the girls it’s going to be a fight. You got to just run and execute our offense, and the first three possessions of overtime we really did a good job. But (Harlingen High) kept fighting. Every time we got a comfortable lead, they hit another big shot.”
The game was tied at 13 after the first quarter. Naomi Blanco scored the first basket of the season for the Lady Cardinals. Laylah Badiru and Layla Salas played well inside the paint, boxing out the bigger Lady Bulldogs and coming down with defensive rebounds. Avery Hinojosa immediately made her presence known when she entered the game with the second rotation midway through the quarter, showing speed and quick hands to play suffocating defense.
The Lady Cardinals opened their lead to 30-21 at halftime behind solid shooting from the corners. Emery Scoggins and Lexi Coto hit some shots from the outside, and Harlingen High continued to rebound and move the ball better than Laredo Alexander to push the pace of the game. Moncivaiz kept the legs fresh by subbing out all five players around the halfway point in a quarter.
“When we kept control of the game, we looked more balanced and we were able to score from anywhere. We didn’t depend on one person, and that’s what helped us out,” Moncivaiz said. “We had different groups going in, and we kept the same level of play out there. Especially with this face mask that we’re implementing, switching in and out helps us keep the game at a certain pace, set the tempo and control the game.”
With Harlingen High pushing the tempo, Laredo Alexander had to change its defensive approach. The Lady Bulldogs focused on using their height advantage to tighten up the paint in the second half and the overtime period. Samantha Carranza and Genesis delaCruz were strong down low and started to rebound better as Alexander turned up its punch.
“Our halfcourt defense was a lot better than what I expected coming in,” Medellin said. “We’re really not that type of team, we’re a full-court-pressing team. But they were beating us on that so we had to reduce the court, and I thought our girls did a much better job in the fourth quarter and overtime in our halfcourt D. I told our girls we have to meet their speed, and I thought our speed matched them very well.”
Despite solid effort from Hinojosa and Rosa Zapata forcing some Lady Bulldogs turnovers, Laredo Alexander fought back to cut the lead to two points midway through the third quarter behind solid shooting from Sophie Villalobos. She hit three 3-pointers in the quarter and five total during the second half.
The Lady Cardinals were still on top, 44-36, heading into the fourth quarter. But Villalobos’ outside shot and a nine-point quarter from Kayla Herrera gave the Lady Bulldogs a 56-51 lead with the clock winding down. Coto and Scoggins hit consecutive 3s to make it 57-56 Harlingen High with less than one minute to play. Herrera made a free throw after being fouled on a questionable call following a Salas block to force four minutes of overtime.
Laredo Alexander ramped up its defensive pressure and beat the Lady Cardinals down low to go on a 6-0 run to open the extra period. Following a timeout and an emphatic message from Moncivaiz, Scoggins hit her third 3-pointer of the night to energize the Lady Cardinals. Hinojosa recorded a steal and was fouled on the breakaway, then made both free throws to cut the deficit to 63-62 and make the crowd go wild with 29.4 seconds to play.
A Hinojosa steal resulted in a jump ball to give Harlingen High possession again after the score, but Laredo Alexander rebounded a missed layup and pushed the ball up court. Herrera was fouled on the breakaway and hit both free throws to make it a three-point game, and a rushed deep 3-point shot by the Lady Cardinals sealed the win for the Lady Bulldogs.
Villalobos led all scorers with 27 points, followed by Herrera’s 16 to pace the Lady Bulldogs. Scoggins dropped 15, Coto 12 and Hinojosa 11 to lead Harlingen High.
“We want to go against the best to get us ready for when district and playoffs come,” Moncivaiz said. “We’re going to be ready to compete because … our schedule is very tough, every night we’re playing against a state-ranked team. Our team looked really competitive out there, so I liked that.”