By EDWARD SEVERN, Staff Writer
BROWNSVILLE — The Harlingen High Cardinals defeated the Hanna Eagles 47-45 on Tuesday in another wild District 32-6A matchup.
The Cardinals (18-12, 8-4) picked up a huge win in the playoff race. Going into the game, the Cardinals and Eagles (17-14, 7-5) were tied for second in the district with Harlingen South, one game up on fifth-place San Benito.
“It is a huge win after being tied with them in a three-way tie,” Harlingen High coach Clayton Cretors said. “We have been talking about the magnitude and implications of this game going forward the last few days. I am proud of the guys for getting this win.”
The Cardinals now control their own destiny when they play the Brownsville Rivera Raiders on Friday.
“A big and huge win for us tonight, we have to keep it going,” Cardinals junior guard Ryan Sanchez said.
Eagles senior Isiah Talamantez gave his team an 8-5 lead with a 3-pointer after the teams traded early scores.
The Cardinals took the lead when a pass from junior Evan Vasquez found junior Jayden Rendon down low. Ryan Sanchez opened the second quarter with a long 3-pointer to put Harlingen High up 12-8.
Three Hanna free throws were answered by Rendon’s old-fashioned three-point play to put the Cardinals back up 15-11.
A spinning layup by Talamantez gave Hanna a 25-24 lead after the teams continued the trend of trading baskets. But Sanchez gave Harlingen High a 29-27 halftime lead from the line after being fouled at the buzzer.
The Cardinals started the second half by attacking the rim. Rendon scored a couple down low after using his body well, and Vasquez followed his teammate’s miss with an easy putback to give Harlingen High its biggest lead of the night at 37-30.
“I felt good. My coach always tells me that I have to play big,” Rendon said. “I had to play big, and I came in with that killer mentality.”
Hanna chipped away at the lead with its big man. Junior Manrique Cantu’s back-to-back scores at the rim cut the Cardinals’ lead to 37-34 in the low-scoring third quarter. The Eagles then tied the game at 37 during the opening minutes of the fourth quarter with a pair of free throws from junior Ricardo Roman.
Harlingen High freshman guard Luis Rodriguez responded immediately at the other end with a 3-pointer.
After a Talamantez response to tie the game at 43, Sanchez swished another 3-pointer to put the Cardinals back up with only a couple of minutes remaining.
The Eagles had a couple of chances to tie or take the lead but did not find a clean shot during the dying seconds.
Sanchez led the Cardinals in scoring with 16 points, and Rendon finished with 15.
Hanna will take on Harlingen South on Friday and finish off with San Benito next Tuesday. Massive playoff ramifications will be on the line in both games.