DAVE FAVILA | Staff Writer

HARLINGEN — Paced by a tenacious defense and a balanced offense that got scoring from 10 different players, the Harlingen South Lady Hawks routed the Edinburg Economedes Lady Jaguars 51-26 in a non-district contest on Tuesday night.

The Lady Hawks, who picked up their fourth straight win and improved to 9-6 on the season, outscored the Lady Jags 20-6 in the opening period. They also forced 11 turnovers and held Economedes to just two field goals in the quarter.

“We asked the defense to set the tone tonight and they did it,” said Lady Hawks head coach Kelly Garrett.

South’s Mikaela Flores led all scorers with 11 points, followed by Socorro Salazar, who finished with 10, including one three-pointer. Meanwhile, Leah Noe and Tina Montez both came off the bench to contribute six points apiece while Lauren Contreras added five.

With a 14-point lead heading into the second quarter, the Lady Hawks continued to press on defense and limited the Lady Jags to just five points to take a 36-11 lead at the half.

The Lady Jags committed fewer turnovers in the second period and did get open shots, but nothing was falling for them as they didn’t score a point until the 5:09 mark of the frame when Lizbeth Cabrera finally found the basket.

Meanwhile, the Lady Hawks’ offense really spread the ball around in the second as six different player scored.

Things didn’t get much better for Economedes in the second half as the Lady Jags were held to just nine points in the third and didn’t pick up their first field goal of the quarter until there was just 15 seconds left. Prior to that, all their points came on free throws and one three-point basket by Silva Perez, who led the way for the Lady Jags with 11 points. After three, the Lady Hawks led 49-20.

In the fourth quarter, the Lady Hawks’ offense purposely slowed the tempo down and Economedes actually outscored South 6-2. But it was way too little way too late.

The Lady Hawks seem to be hitting their stirde at the right time as District 32-6A play gets underway a week from Friday.

“This weekend we’ve got a tournament in Laredo and hopefully that will get us ready for league play coming up,” said Garrett.

South opens district on Dec. 11 at Brownsville Veterans.

DAVE FAVILA | Staff Writer

The Harlingen Lady Cardinals are without a doubt the hottest basketball team in the Valley so far this season.

After thumping the Edcouch-Elsa Lady Yellowjackets on Saturday 67-34, the Lady Cards improved to 13-1 on the year.

Apparently, the rest of the state has taken notice of their success as on Monday the Lady Red Birds were ranked No. 15 in Class 6A by the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches and Tex Preps Basketball Magazine.

So far their only loss of the season has come against San Antonio Clark during the McAllen Border Bash Tournament on Nov. 21. The Lady Cougars, meanwhile, are 14-0 and are ranked just ahead of Harlingen at No. 14.

The Lady Cardinals are led by a bevy of seniors, including Addison Dickey, Marissa Gasca, Sami Quilantan and Elvira Fraga.

With so much veteran experience at its disposal, much is expected of this year’s squad, especially in the postseason where the team has struggled the past couple of years.

In 2013-14, the Lady Cards finished with a 25-9 mark, but were eliminated in the second round of the playoffs after a heartbreaking last-second 40-39 loss to Laredo United.

The 2014-15 team also had a great season, finishing at 30-5 but, once again, was ousted in the second round after a 66-42 loss to Laredo United South.

The last time the Lady Cards reached the regional tournament was during the 2012-13 season when the team’s current seniors were just freshmen. That season, the team beat Weslaco East, Edinburg and Los Fresnos before losing to San Antonio Steele in the Sweet 16.

The Lady Cards are off this entire week and don’t return to the court until Dec. 8 when they face Brownsville St. Joseph on the road before beginning District 32-6A play at home against Brownsville Rivera on Dec. 11.

While the Lady Cards are the highest ranked girls team in this week’s state poll, they are not alone.

Edinburg (12-3) is ranked No. 19 and Weslaco (6-1), which Harlingen beat 65-41 on Nov. 17, is ranked No. 23.

Four Valley boys teams also made the grade. In Class 6A, Brownsville Veterans (6-0) is ranked No. 23 and Harlingen South (1-0) is in at No. 25. The Hawks opened the season on Nov. 24 with an impressive 34-18 win over McAllen. Their home opener is tonight at 7:30 p.m. against Edinburg Ecomomedes.

Meanwhile, in Class 5A, Edinburg Vela (5-1) is No. 24 while in Class 2A, the 6-0 San Isidro Tigers are ranked No. 14.

DAVE FAVILA | Staff Writer

The Harlingen Cardinals football team may not have won its Class 6A Division I regional playoff game against Smithson Valley on Friday night.

However, the Cards apparently won the respect of the opposition.

On Saturday, the San Antonio Express-News reported that after the Rangers’ 35-20 win, coach Larry Hill paid a visit to the Cardinals’ locker room where he praised the team for its hard play.

During a video that was shot during the speech, Hill can be heard paying respect to the Cards and their coaches.

“Here’s the reason I came over here,” Hill said as the Cardinals looked on. “I know a good football team when I see one and I know kids that play their guts out when I see them. I know a well-coached football team when I see one. And I just wanted to come over here and tell you that you’ve got the respect of all those players and coaches over there in the other locker room. You had our respect when we came off the bus.”

Harlingen head coach Manny Gomez said he was impressed by Hill’s actions.

“First of all, I was just trying to soften the heartache of my kids and I had just finished mentioning to them what Coach Hill had told me when, lo and behold, he walks in a moment later and reassures my kids on their performance,” Gomez said.

“I can definitely say that we can all learn from this. I surely will. He’s a great coach, mentor and definitely a great person. Much respect.”

The Cardinals actually led the game by 10 points early in the second quarter.

However, the Rangers’ offense woke up and eventually outscored the Cards 28-3 behind a 128-yard, three-touchdown performance by running back Hyuahda Roache.

The Rangers will now face state powerhouse Converse Judson in the state quarterfinals next week.

According to the Express-News, Hill’s speech to the Cardinals was not out of the ordinary. The publication reported that he has a tendency to write opposing teams notes after games.

After a 42-16 loss to Cibolo Steele earlier this season, Hill penned a letter to Steele coach Scott Lehnhoff congratulating him on the win.

Part of the letter read: “The Knights were well skilled and showed great discipline and coaching. That’s a tribute to your and your staff. Good luck the rest of the way.”

DAVE FAVILA | Staff Writer

HARLINGEN — The Harlingen Lady Cardinals are playing about as well as any basketball team out there right now, expect for maybe the defending NBA champion Golden State Warriors.

Against the Edcouch-Elsa Lady Yellowjackets on Saturday afternoon, the Lady Cards outshot, outrebounded, outhustled and simply outperformed the competition en route to an easy 67-34 win.

The victory improved the Lady Red Birds to an impressive 13-1 record. Their only loss of the season has come against San Antonio Clark during the McAllen Border Bash Tournament on Nov. 21.

Senior starters Addison Dickey, Sami Quilantan and Marissa Gasca led the way for Harlingen with 17, 10 and nine points, respectively, in essentially just one half of play as Lady Cards head coach Ashley Moncivaiz rested the starters in both the second and fourth quarters.

As usual, the Lady Cards’ defense was relentless from the get-go as it forced numerous turnovers and held the Lady ’Jackets to just two field goals in the first half

In the first period, Jamie Herrera single-handedly kept E-E in the game by draining two three-pointers that got the Lady ’Jackets to within one point at 8-7. That was as close as they would ever get, however, as the Lady Cards closed out the quarter on a 14-0 run to take a 24-7 lead.

With the 17-point advantage, Moncivaiz sat the starters in the second quarter. And while the bench wasn’t as sharp offensively – scoring only 10 points – the defense continued to harass E-E and held the Lady ’Jackets to a mere five points.

“We still need work with them, but it was nice to get them some playing time today and they did well,” Moncivaiz said of her bench players.

In the third period, the Lady Cards’ starters returned and quickly broke any spirit the Lady ’Jackets may have still had by outscoring them 22-9 to finish the frame up by 37 points at 58-21. Dickey led the way with 11 points.

With the Lady Cardinals’ starters on the bench again in the final period, E-E managed to outscore Harlingen 13-6 as Herrera scored 11 to finish with 21 points. But it was way too little way too late as Harlingen wrapped things up with the 33-point win.

The Lady Cards will now have a chance to rest as they will not play again until Dec. 8 when they travel to Brownsville to take on St. Joseph Academy.

With things going so well for the team right now, Gasca admitted that it is somewhat hard for the girls to remain humble.

“It is sort of but, then again, not really,” she said. “We’re just taking it day by day and working hard at every practice.”

DAVE FAVILA | Staff Writer

HARLINGEN — The last time the Harlingen South Lady Hawks played at home, it was their season opener and they looked quite shaky in an 11-point loss to Edinburg Vela.

But thanks to some relatively strong showings at both the Weslaco and McAllen Border Bash basketball tournaments, the Lady Hawks have seemed to work out some of the kinks and looked pretty good in a 57-41 home win against PSJA Memorial on Tuesday afternoon.

Senior post Christina Montez exploited the smaller Lady Wolverines under the boards to score 26 points and lead the Lady Hawks to their eighth win of the season.

“She’s been doing really well for us,” said Lady Hawks head coach Kelly Garrett of Montez. “She was just real strong today and was able to take advantage of the height difference, and it just worked out for her. We were really trying to push the ball inside to her today.”

The Lady Hawks (8-6) actually started rather slowly, trailing 8-3 early thanks to several turnovers and missed shots. But Montez came off the bench and scored five first-quarter points to spark the Lady Hawks and end the first period tied at 10-10.

In the second period, the Lady Hawks continued to work the ball inside to Montez, who scored seven points and was 5 of 6 from the free-throw line.

Meanwhile, Mikaela Flores pumped in six points and the Lady Hawks took a 29-24 lead into the locker room at the half.

In the third quarter, the Lady Hawks’ defense stepped up and held PSJA Memorial to just five points. The Lady Wolverines didn’t score until the three-minute mark of the period when Alex Soto drained a free-throw and they didn’t hit a field goal until there was just 1:22 left in the frame, by which time the Lady Hawks led 39-27.

In the fourth, the Lady Hawks’ offense did fall asleep early on as the Lady Wolverines opened the period on a 6-0 run to cut the lead down to eight.

But, once again, the Lady Hawks got the ball inside to Montez, who scored eight and helped her team close things out.

“I think all the tournament games we’ve played over the past two weeks have really helped us,” Garrett said. “The games helped get us valuable playing time and that helped us work on our weaknesses.”

The Lady Hawks don’t play another game until next Tuesday when they host Edinburg Economedes. Garrett said she actually welcomes the break.

“It comes at a good time for us because we have a few injured players who need the rest and with district play starting up in just two weeks, we’ll take it,” she said.

DAVE FAVILA | Staff Writer

HARLINGEN — A holiday sporting tradition has apparently come to an end this year as the annual Dr. Keillor Classic basketball tournament will not be played.

For the past four decades, the Keillor brought in some the best boys and girls hoops teams in the area for a two-day event that always started the day after Thanksgiving. It’s believed the tournament began in 1982.

Last season, both the Harlingen High boys and girls teams took home the titles as the Cardinals topped crosstown rival Harlingen South and the Lady Cards beat Hondo.

Unfortunately, neither squad will be able to defend their titles this year as a lack of commitment from other teams forced Harlingen CISD officials to call it off.

While the exact reason as to why so many teams declined invitations this season remains unclear, it may have had something to do with the fact that many Valley school districts, including Harlingen, chose to give their students the entire week off for Thanksgiving this year, said Harlingen South head basketball coach Brian Molina.

“I think having the entire week off made it easier for coaches to just give their teams the break rather than play right after the holiday,” Molina said.

Lady Cardinals head coach Ashley Moncivaiz, who played in the Keillor during her high school days at Harlingen High back in the early 2000s, expressed disappointment that her team would not be able to defend the title they worked so hard to win last year.

“It’s hard because you work so hard to win it and now you don’t get a chance to see if you had what it takes to do it again,” she said.

“Unfortunately, I think we were hurt by the fact that so many schools decided to take the whole week off this year. It changed the schedule everyone had developed over the years when we used to go to school for at least part of the week.”

Regardless of the recent holiday schedule change, participation in the Keillor had been dwindling, especially on the boys side where the format had to be changed in recent years from a typical bracket-style play to a round-robin setup to account for a lack of teams.

Still, both Molina and Moncivaiz said they hope to see the Keillor return as soon as next year.

“I don’t know if maybe we can move it to a later date when more teams would be available, but hopefully we can work something out so that we can get it back,” she said.

DAVE FAVILA | Staff Writer

HARLINGEN — Seniors Marissa Gasca and Addison Dickey combined for 32 points and the Harlingen Lady Cardinals steamrolled Weslaco High 65-41 at home on Tuesday to improve to 7-0 on the season.

Gasca led the Lady Cards with 17 points, including a three-pointer, while Dickey finished with 15 – nine in the first quarter – and had several key rebounds.

But while Harlingen’s offense was on point Tuesday, Lady Cardinals head coach Ashley Moncivaiz credited the team’s defense as the real key to the victory.

“It’s also the reason we’re undefeated,” she said. “Defense is something we’ve been putting into our minds that we’re going to do first. We put defense into our mindset first and offense will follow.

“It’s something we’ve been working on since last year and now you can see the difference in how much they trust each other.”

The Lady Cards got off to a quick start behind Dickey, who was a force under the basket that Weslaco could not stop.

Meanwhile, Nadia Flores pumped in five points, Gasca had a field goal and the Lady Cards took a 16-10 lead after the first period.

In the second quarter, the Lady Cards continued to press on defense, but the Lady Panthers managed to find some offense and got within four points at 22-18 behind the play of Bree Pena and Gabby Casares.

However, that was as close as Weslaco would get as the Lady Cards pulled away and took a 31-21 lead into the half.

The third period was actually the Lady Cards’ lowest-scoring frame as they only put up 14 points on the scoreboard. However, the Lady Panthers just couldn’t find an offensive rhythm in the face of Harlingen’s defense and trailed 45-32 heading into the final quarter.

In the fourth quarter, the Lady Cards put their foot on the gas and went on a 16-3 run, holding the Lady Panthers to just three free throws until they finally scored a field goal with 2:18 left in the game. Weslaco was held to just nine points in the final period.

Elvira Fraga led the way offensively in the fourth, scoring seven points. She finished with 11.

The Lady Cardinals were 10 of 14 from the free-throw line while the Lady Panthers were 12 of 19.

DAVE FAVILA | Staff Writer

HARLINGEN — Both the Harlingen South Hawks and the visiting Edinburg Vela Lady SaberCats came out a bit shaky in their 2015-16 season opener on Tuesday.

Both squads struggled on offense, turned the ball over plenty of times and had trouble finding a comfortable rhythm.

However, someone had to win and it was the Lady SaberCats who walked away with a 34-23 win.

The only time Vela trailed in the game was early in the first quarter when the Lady Hawks took a 4-2 lead on back-to-back baskets by Mikaela Flores.

From that point, however, it was all Lady SaberCats.

The Cats’ defense held the Lady Hawks to just the four points in the first period and just six in the second.

Meanwhile, the Cats’ offense got contributions from six different players, including Kayleen Rios and Emma Villarreal, who each scored four in the first quarter. At the half, Vela led 20-10.

In the second half, Vela pulled away as the Lady Hawks’ offense continued to struggle.

South did a fairly good job on defense as they forced numerous turnovers. However, the offense simply couldn’t convert as Vela opened up a 28-16 lead at the end of the third.

The Lady Hawks also did a good job of getting to the free-throw line as Vela committed plenty of fouls. However, South was extremely inefficient at the charity stripe, hitting just 6 of 22 shots.

“We definitely need to work on our free throws,” said Lady Hawks head coach Kelly Garrett. “We also need to work on our defense. But we didn’t quit and played until the end.”

DAVE FAVILA | Staff Writer

LA VILLA — Refugio Montelongo had never run cross country prior to this year.

The La Villa High School sophomore grew up in a basketball family where hoops is king.

“I had run a little track before (the 1,600 meter), but never cross country. Basketball is my sport,” Montelongo said.

Meanwhile, coach Ron Tamez, La Villa’s longtime baseball skipper, decided to add cross country to his resume and took over the school’s program this season.

“One of the first things I did when I became coach was to go out a recruit cross country athletes,” Tamez said.

One of the athletes that was eventually brought to Tamez’s attention was Montelongo.

Call it fate, maybe luck or possibly destiny. Either way it was a match made in heaven because on Saturday, Montelongo will compete at the UIL state cross country meet in Round Rock.

With the achievement, Montelongo is now the first ever boys cross country runner to qualify for the state meet in La Villa’s 28-year history.

Any pressure?

“No, not really,” Montelongo said on Tuesday, shortly after running a little more than three miles. Tamez estimates he runs about 14 miles a week.

“Going to state is a great accomplishment and everyone is just really happy for me,” he added.

Montelongo qualified for the state meet by finishing in the top 10 at regionals on Oct. 26 at Corpus Christi. He finished with a time of 19:06.4.

“I kind of surprised myself there (at regionals),” he said. “But I got a lot of support from my mom, dad and Coach Tamez, and they really helped spur me on.”

Tamez said that he was also somewhat surprised at the success Montelongo has had.

“But there was just something about him that made me think he would be good even though he was young and had never run before,” said Tamez.

One thing Tamez credits toward Montelongo’s success is the fact that he trains during the hot afternoons and runs a course around the area that includes some steep hills toward the end.

“Being able to run over hills, especially when you’re tired, is a big deal,” Tamez said. “I think it has helped him a lot.”

Montelongo said his running strategy is pretty simple and one that his father helped him devise.

“The key is to get a good take off and try to stay in front. Then I find my pace and keep that up, but I make sure to keep enough gas in the tank to finish strong,” he said.

Montelongo said that he doesn’t know what to expect this weekend, but is still optimistic about his chances.

“I would like to be able to finish in the top 10, but I know that won’t be easy,” he said. “But whatever happens, I know that I’ve got two more years to try to get back and improve. That’s my goal. To always get better.”

DAVE FAVILA | Staff Writer

HARLINGEN — The 2015 high school volleyball season didn’t go exactly as planned for either the Harlingen Lady Cardinals or Harlingen South Lady Hawks.

Both squads played hard and had their moments, but ultimately couldn’t string enough wins together to qualify for the postseason.

So when the two intracity rivals faced off on Tuesday at the Lady Cardinals gym in the regular-season finale, only pride and the chance to end things on a high note were at stake.

Regardless, the Lady Hawks came out focused and played one of their best matches of the year en route to a hard-fought 26-24, 25-19, 28-26 sweep of the Lady Cards.

The Lady Hawks were led by sophomore Lexi Kruse, who had seven kills, nine assists and two blocks, as well as Adrianna Espinoza, who finished with eight kill shots.

With South’s win, the teams split the season series as Harlingen beat South 3-1 on Oct. 3.

“This was pretty big and I wanted to win with all my heart,” said Lady Hawks senior captain Tina Montez, who is one of five seniors the Lady Hawks will lose over the offseason. She finished the game with six key kills.

“We just put it all together, we clicked today and I’m glad that the last game of my senior year was a win.”

Lady Hawks head coach Jennifer Taliancich was pleased with how her team found a way to effectively close the match.

“In some of our matches this season, we just weren’t able to finish strong,” she said. “We always played hard, but we sometimes did have trouble closing things out. We finally did that tonight.”

The Lady Hawks showed their ability to finish off the competition in Game 3 of the match.

Already up 2-0, momentum was on the Lady Hawks’ side as they opened the third set with a 7-4 lead.

The Lady Cards fought back, however, and eventually tied things up at 10-10.

Both teams battled tooth and nail down the stretch until the Lady Hawks finally got to match point up 24-20.

But the Lady Cards refused to go quietly as they held off match point and eventually tied things up at 24-24 and again at 26-26.

With the spirited crowd going wild, the Lady Hawks dug deep, found the will to score two last points and finally won the game 28-26 to close down the match.

“I’m very proud of the team and I know that we seniors are leaving the team in good hands,” Montez said. “They have Lexi Kruse – Kruse control – coming back and I know they will be just fine.”