By EDWARD SEVERN, Staff Writer
HARLINGEN — The Los Fresnos Lady Falcons pulled off a tremendous comeback Friday night to defeat the Harlingen High Lady Cardinals 67-64 in a crucial district meeting.
The Lady Falcons needed overtime to pull off the win. In overtime, they got big baskets down low from center Aylene Ortega and hit their free throws when they went to the line.
“I have been asking all year long for the girls to show grit and play as a team, and that is what they did tonight,” a fired-up Los Fresnos coach Alex Lucio said. “There was no Xs and Os, it was just wanting it a little more than they did.”
Both teams kept it tight during the first quarter defensively, but the home team was a little more clinical with its scoring and the Lady Cards were up 14-11 at the end of opening quarter.
Then, they opened up their offense in the second quarter. Harlingen High forced plenty of turnovers and capitalized ruthlessly when given the chance.
The Lady Cards received great output from their guards, who usually forced the turnovers. Avery Hinojosa drove well, Emery Scoggins was money from deep and Danielle Rodriguez also got involved in the scoring.
Forwards Layla Salas, Julie Bryant and Athenna Linnartz were also frequent scorers and contributed to the cause. When left alone at the elbow, Bryant was lethal.
The Lady Cards went on a 16-5 run halfway through the second quarter to take a 36-23 lead and hold a grip on the game at the half.
The Lady Falcons clawed back early in the third quarter, led by Sarahi Jones. A bucket and an assist from Jones to Maritza Ortega cut the Harlingen High lead to 38-31.
Lady Cardinals guard Amber Hinojosa finished well at the rim to end the Los Fresnos flurry, and a Rodriguez 3-pointer put Harlingen High up 14.
A couple of Lady Falcons buckets cut the lead to 47-37 going into the fourth, and they whittled the lead to 53-49 late in the fourth. Olivia Parra and Jones cut the deficit to 55-54 with a little more than one minute left. Parra then tied the game with a free throw after a steal, sending the game to overtime.
“It is a good win and it is good for our program, but we got to take it one game at a time, our focus is on the next game,” Lucio said. “We got to get back to work tomorrow and focus on the next game.”