By CLAIRE CRUZ | Special to the star
Harlingen played without senior captain Jeremy Vasquez during Tuesday’s District 32-6A matchup with Weslaco East, but that didn’t faze the Cardinals as they cruised to an 80-62 victory.
Vasquez was held out due to an injury, and with him sitting on the bench with a boot on his foot, John Ortega got the chance to step into a starting role. Unlike the weather outside the gymnasium, Ortega didn’t freeze in the big moment; in fact, he excelled.
The junior forward led a dominant defensive effort and took full advantage of the Wildcat turnovers he helped force. He scored 17 points in the contest—good for second-most on the team—with many of his shots coming after steals or poor passes he forced due to his quick hands and shifty footwork.
“The kids came out playing defense, and our defense got our offense going,” Harlingen head coach Greg Yates said. “We got some steals that led to easy layups and everything started snowballing from there. John Ortega came in and picked up the slack defensively and got some easy buckets because of his defense.”
Three of Ortega’s classmates put together solid performances to aid the Cardinals in their one-sided victory. Michael Arellano and Kameryn Gonzalez combined for 27 points and played key roles in the heavy press that stymied Weslaco East’s offense.
But arguably the most exciting outing came from Antonio Aguilar. The shooting guard hit seven shots from behind the arc, including three on consecutive possessions to close out the first half.
“Antonio’s a very good shooter,” Yates said. “We have some others, but he’s kind of special. We gave him an opportunity, and he’s got a lot of things to work on, but there’s no doubt that shooting is one of his strong points.”
Despite trailing by 36 points at halftime, the Wildcats never let their foot off the pedal. Harlingen went away from its high trap defense in the second half and Weslaco East took advantage, outscoring the Cardinals 46-28 in the final two quarters. Junior Mark Medrano drained five three-pointers after the break and six total to lead the Wildcats with 23 points.
Gonzalez and Ortega, however, were clutch for the Cardinals in the second half to keep the game in check.
“Weslaco East is well coached and they never gave up,” Yates said. “The kids played hard. That was a great job by them. And we need to work to close out games