KEVIN NARRO | Staff Writer
HARLINGEN — As the final buzzer sounded, first-year Harlingen High coach Clayton Cretors was full of emotion.
He had just coached his team to a 47-43 win over crosstown rival Harlingen South. While the win wasn’t the first of his career, it was his first district win. The first one is always the sweetest, and getting one against your rival is even sweeter.
“First district win and first Bird Bowl win, it means so much,” Cretors said. “Being that it is a rivalry game, just the energy and the intensity is there in this game, and we were trying to get this win for us.”
Harlingen High understood the importance of avoiding a 0-2 district hole and also took the court without junior Michael Castillo, who left Friday’s game against Los Fresnos with a hand injury.
Big Red delivered without Castillo. Michael Vasquez helped fuel the offense with 11 points, and Ruben Gonzalez netted eight.
“Like I said last week, we would put ourselves in a hole if we went down 0-2, so we wanted to make sure we got this win tonight to put us in a good spot, and it was an emotional game and I’m pleased with the guys,” Cretors said. “Tonight we faced adversity, and that is one thing I have been talking to the guys about since last year. We have to have resolve in adversity, and we need to be able to overcome it in whatever the case may be. We need to come back from it, and that is a life lesson for them.”
After a seesaw battle, the biggest play of the night came on a three point play from Gonzalez, who gave the Cards a 47-41 lead with 1:59 left in the game.
On the next three possessions, the Hawks couldn’t find the basket and turned the ball over late.
“We turned the ball over at crucial times,” South coach Brian Molina said. “Much credit to Harlingen High, they did a good job by disrupting stuff defensively, and we knew it was going to be a tough game. Harlingen High just made a couple of extra plays and came up with 50-50 balls, and got the stops when they needed to and executed when they needed to.”
The Hawks are 1-1 in district play, as are the Cards. Harlingen High next takes on Brownsville Rivera while South meets Brownsville Hanna.
Rudy Rodriguez scored a game-high 14 points, and Alex Rodriguez followed with 13 points in the loss.
“I told the guys, the good news is we get to play them again,” Molina said. “Maybe the ball will bounce the other way the next time, and it will be a short turnaround. This is a quick district, and we know Hanna is a pretty good ballclub and we will just go right back to the drawing board.”